


Could I lock in your love, baby?

by baekeries



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Falling In Love, Fluff and Smut, M/M, Mutual Pining, Overwatch References, Romance, Slice of Life, Slow Burn, Smut in bonus chapter, Streamer AU, pro gamer baek
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-22
Updated: 2018-09-11
Packaged: 2019-05-10 04:41:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 51,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14730129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baekeries/pseuds/baekeries
Summary: [Completed] Fans of pro Overwatch player-slash-streamer Byun “baekkaji” Baekhyun are dying to know who’s got him smiling like a lovesick fool. Park "bambi" Chanyeol remains as oblivious as ever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know there’s a lot of Overwatch stuff in this but fret not, you don’t have to know anything about it! And I know B plays LoL more than OW (sobs) but I’m more familiar with OW soooooo here is a pro-gamer B au! 
> 
> just some things to note:  
> scrims = practice matches  
> tank = a position in the game  
> carry = bring someone to victory  
> hosting = basically promoting someone's channel

Being a full-time pro-gamer and part-time streamer is time consuming, but Baekhyun enjoys it. He loves having an audience, being able to interact with his fans in real time, and the best part is that he gets to make a living out of doing something he loves. But the thing about being as internet famous as he is, is that everyone is dying to know everything about you, and every little thing you do online is being monitored, as creepy as that sounds.

So when Baekhyun tells his viewers that he has to answer the door and comes prancing back in view with a huge parcel that he puts down at the corner of his room, his viewers are spamming his chat, dying to know who’s got their _baekkaji_ smiling so widely.

He continues the stream anyway, for another 4 hours as promised, but all he can think about is what the parcel holds this time. He plays Overwatch for a living and he’s in love with this lifestyle. It’s even more gruelling than he expected and sometimes he even _hates_ the game, but at 22 years old, the salary and experience that comes with it is more than he could ever ask for.

“I’m gonna end the stream now. It’s been a wild 12 hours, good night everyone!” Baekhyun says to his camera, turning it off and switching to his ‘Thanks for watching’ screen. He mutes his mic as he watches the comments flood the chat, some asking him to reveal what’s in the parcel and some simply saying good night, and some English comments that he can’t really understand yet. Smiling to himself, he sits on the floor and opens the package excitedly and silently thanks the Heavens for a person like Chanyeol. The box is filled with all sorts of Korean snacks he can’t get in the States, including some homemade kimchi that Baekhyun loves.

It isn’t the first time that Chanyeol sent him a package like this, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. Baekhyun picks up the note stickied to the inside of the box, expecting a lengthy note, but it only says one word: _enjoy._ He chuckles, ending the stream and shutting his computer down. He picks up his phone and texts Chanyeol.

 

_You_  
Hey bambi, thanks for the huge ass parcel once again, I hope it didn’t cost you much   _23:00_  
You’re a lifesaver, man   _23:00  
_ Tell your mom thanks for the kimchi! I will eat it well (*~▽~)   _23:01_

 

He waits for a reply, but it doesn’t come. Opening the streaming app, he belatedly remembers that Chanyeol is streaming too. He opens Chanyeol’s channel, _bambi_ , and watches his stream, sometimes focusing more on the man in the face cam rather than the game play itself. Moving to his bed, he lies down with his phone on his chest, and decides to leave a comment for fun, the parcel long forgotten.

_‘Bambi is so good at this game!!’_ he types, and hits enter. Soon, Chanyeol’s chat is flooded with fans — Baekhyun is not sure if they’re fans of him too — yelling _‘BAEKKAJI IS WATCHING YOUR STREAM BAMBI’_ and spamming emotes. Chanyeol notices it because of how quickly the chat is moving, and grins at the camera. “Baekkaji is watching? Hi, Baek!”

It takes all of Baekhyun’s self control to not smile at his phone like an idiot, even though he has no one to hide from.

After an hour or so of watching, he donates 40,000won to Chanyeol’s stream and asks which Overwatch League team he likes. Chanyeol laughs when he sees Baekhyun’s donation, thanking him. “Thank you baekkaji for the generous donation! I love Seoul Dynasty, because I’m Korean _and_ they have the best tank in the world,” he replies cheekily.

Baekhyun snorts at his answer and tries to ignore the way his heart beats fast when Chanyeol winks at the camera. Seoul Dynasty is the team Baekhyun’s playing for, and Baekhyun is their main tank, so of course Chanyeol would say that to appease him. He donates again, this time a slightly bigger amount, and says _‘liar’_ in the message, leaving the stream. He doesn’t stay to listen to Chanyeol deny the accusation, but Baekhyun knows he won’t take it to heart.

Baekhyun doesn’t remember exactly how he became friends with Chanyeol. Back in South Korea, they were schoolmates who shared the same passion for gaming, but that was all there was to it. They never really became close friends or anything, and when they graduated high school, neither of them bothered to keep up with each other, only hearing snippets of their lifestyles from their mutual friends.

When he left for the States, Chanyeol was there to send him off as well. Baekhyun didn’t know why he did, but Chanyeol didn’t look like he was dragged to the airport so he smiled anyway and thanked him for coming. (Although, now that Baekhyun looks back on it, Chanyeol did seem _a little_ miserable. He brushes it off anyway.)

And then he found Chanyeol’s stream. He chanced upon it, really — it wasn’t like he was curious when his friends mentioned that Chanyeol streamed too — no, that wasn’t the case. He just happened to stumble upon a variety streamer who went by _bambi_ , and looked exactly like someone he knew, and was actually a pretty good Overwatch player just like Baekhyun. He found Chanyeol on his social media and started following him, and eventually they started talking, and here they are. Baekhyun doesn’t know what to call it. They’re just really good friends.

They play Overwatch together when Baekhyun doesn’t have practice or matches, both off and on stream, and they talk when they end their streams. Unlike Chanyeol, Baekhyun doesn’t have a set streaming schedule, so he mostly bends his schedule to work around Chanyeol’s, but he doesn’t tell Chanyeol that. The time zones are a bother. 13 hours apart makes things really hard, but Baekhyun finds himself not caring about sleep whenever Chanyeol talks about his days. He’s about to sleep when his phone pings, and he cracks an eye open to see who texted him.

 

_Bambi_  
_01:14_ You’re welcome! It was no problem (*≧▽≦)  
_01:14_ I’ll be sure to let my mom know~  
_01:14_ How were your scrims? Good?  
_01:15_ Ready to go against Excelsior?

 

Biting his lip, Baekhyun types a reply back. Sleep be damned.

 

_You_  
We were always ready for Excelsior   _01:15_  
Practice was okay. The team still gets nervous sometimes   _01:15  
_ How’s your day so far?   _01:15_

_Bambi_  
It’s good so far!! disappointed we didn’t get to  
play together but it’s okay, there’s always  
_01:17_   another day

_You  
_ You just want me to carry you, don’t you? ∩(︶▽︶)∩   _01:17_

_Bambi_  
I’ll have you know that teams have offered  
_01:18_   me contracts, I don’t need u to carry me

_You_  
Yes, I know   _01:18_  
Why won’t you take up the offers? We could be  
playing together, the world needs to see the kind of  
potential you have   _01:19_

 

_Bambi_  
_01:25_ I don’t want to leave korea, you know that  
_01:25_ It’s late, go to sleep  
_01:26_ I’ll talk to u tomorrow after your scrims  
_01:26_   Good night!

 

Baekhyun pouts at his screen. Maybe he shouldn’t have brought it up again. Although they are both streamers, Baekhyun only specialises in one game and he’s a god at it — hence the title of a pro-gamer. He mainly plays Overwatch and is actually in the midst of an on-going tournament. The Overwatch League.

However, Chanyeol is a variety streamer, which means he doesn’t only play one game when he’s streaming. He plays many different games, according to his mood, but he is one of the best in Overwatch, and Baekhyun just doesn’t understand why he just won’t play it competitively as an e-sport when he’s so good at it. Chanyeol always says he’s happy just streaming.

He decides to just forget about it and continue their conversation. Chanyeol chides him and asks him to go to sleep, but Baekhyun video calls him and Chanyeol picks up anyway. “Why won’t you just go to sleep?” Chanyeol asks exasperatedly, holding back a smile.

“I’ll be busy the whole of tomorrow, I won’t be able to talk much, so let’s talk now,” Baekhyun suggests, stifling a yawn. Chanyeol rolls his eyes, but he nods for Baekhyun to go on. Baekhyun rolls around in his bed, sighing loudly. “Our next match is next Wednesday, and I can’t help but feel so nervous,” Baekhyun starts. “I know I said we’re always ready for New York Excelsior, but I totally lied. We’ve _never_ won against them once, not even back in Korea.”

Chanyeol nods thoughtfully, mumbling a _yeah, I’ve noticed_ as Baekhyun goes on. “And now that Minseok-hyung left us, the team is easily irritated and I’m honestly so tired,” he says flatly. It was true — Baekhyun used to play for a smaller Overwatch division back in Korea, where the e-sports scene was booming. New York Excelsior was under a different name, as was Seoul Dynasty, and even though Baekhyun’s team won the division, it was by pure luck. If they had gone up against Excelsior in the finals, they might not have been champions. Everyone knew that.

Nonetheless, they were doing well, until the team decided to let go of their leader which was ridiculous, to Baekhyun at least. And now he has to fill the role he’s not capable of filling. “I’ll make sure to watch the match,” Chanyeol chirps, “And don’t worry too much about Excelsior. They’re good, but they aren’t the best… I think. With enough scrims, y’all are gonna do great! It’s Saturday, you still have time!”

Baekhyun laughs at Chanyeol’s enthusiasm, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Just Chanyeol’s faith in him — and his team, of course — makes him relax a lot more. “Right. I’ll try not to overthink it,” Baekhyun says, “I really miss Korea,” he adds with a pout. “It’s already been six months since I left and I’m feeling really homesick. I miss my friends too.”

He wants to say he misses Chanyeol, but how does he miss someone he was never friends with back home? “Korea misses you too,” Chanyeol replies softly, a small smile gracing his lips.

They continue to talk till it’s 4am, and Baekhyun realises he’s not gonna get enough sleep before his scrims. He groans and Chanyeol laughs at him, telling him _I told you so_ and wishes him a good night before ending their call. “Scrims start at 9am, so I have about 3 hours to sleep…” Baekhyun tells himself, setting multiple alarms on his phone. He closes his eyes and lets his exhaustion take over his body. The scrims can wait.

 

The scrims, he soon comes to realise, cannot wait at all. His coach is furious at him for being late, and he gets reprimanded for it. His team tries their best to ignore it as they practice, but it’s hard to when the coach is screaming so loudly at 12 in the afternoon. “This isn’t the first time, Byun!” Baekhyun winces at how loud the coach is, and he can only smile apologetically. “If this happens again, I’m banning you from streaming until you get a grip on yourself,” his coach declares, and Baekhyun’s jaw drops.

“That wasn’t even the-”

“I don’t _care_ if that wasn’t the reason why you were _3 hours late today._ Taking away your stream will definitely teach you a lesson,” he interrupts, giving Baekhyun a hard stare before yelling for him to join the team in their practice.

“That’s ridiculous,” Baekhyun whines as he sits with his team and gets ready for their next match.

“I think it’s a good idea,” one of his teammates says into the mic, and Baekhyun turns to glare at him, getting a cheeky grin in response. Baekhyun rolls his eyes and tells them to pick their hero already.

 

+

 

Plopping down in the couch alongside his a few of his teammates, Baekhyun lets out a long sigh. They have an hour to rest before they have to head to the gym for their scheduled workout, and he wants to watch Chanyeol’s videos before having to do anything again. His teammate, Jongdae, peers at his screen, nodding his head knowingly. “Watching lover boy’s videos? Ask him to join us, he’ll be a good asset now that Minseok-hyung is gone.”

“You say that as if I don’t ask him every other week why he doesn’t play for the League. He’s not interested,” Baekhyun retorts, glancing at Jongdae. “Why are you here? Where’s your girlfriend? Why aren’t you eating? Isn’t that the only thing you’re good at?”

“Be honest,” Jongdae says instead, ignoring Baekhyun’s words, “you overslept because you were talking to Bambi, right?”

Baekhyun splutters, choking on his spit. “W-what are you on about?”

“I was watching his stream last night,” Jongdae admits, picking at his nails. “I was bored and I saw that he was live, so I watched him. But when you joined and left shortly after, he was so out of it and ended the stream abruptly after your ‘little’ donations. I hosted his stream, by the way. You would’ve noticed if you went to my channel first, but _no_ , the first channel you go to is Bambi’s.”

“Also, that was a random guess, but judging by your reaction, you were _totally_ talking to him,” Jongdae adds, smiling gleefully.

“Stop calling him Bambi and keep it down,” Baekhyun grumbles, crossing his arms and letting his phone fell flat on his chest. Jongdae doesn’t seem to care that he nearly announced Baekhyun's current... _interest_ to everyone in the room.

“But that’s his username, do you want me to call him Chanyeolie instead?” Jongdae teases, clearly enjoying the way Baekhyun got annoyed. Bambi is indeed Chanyeol’s in-game name, but it’s also a nickname Baekhyun gave him when they first met in high school. In fact, Baekhyun suspects that’s why he chose Bambi as his username, but Chanyeol insists that it’s because _bam_ means night and _bi_ means rain, and it’s a combination of his favourite kind of weather and time of the day. Rainy nights.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop,” Jongdae gives in, getting up from the couch. “Don’t be late for our gym session later. Gotta keep fit since we’re sitting in chairs all day, you know?” He pats Baekhyun on the shoulder, leaving him to watch Chanyeol’s videos in peace, but Baekhyun doesn’t want to anymore. He wants to take his mind off Chanyeol, so he closes the app and opens Instagram instead, wanting to post a quick selfie.

He nudges his other teammate on the couch, Sehun, and nods at the camera. “Come take a selfie with me, it’s for the fans,” Baekhyun explains, beaming at the camera. He snaps a few photos of them and posts one with the caption _‘gym day’_ , watching the comments flood in.

“ _Oppa, are you sure you’re 22??? You look like you’re 17 or something!”_

_“Oh my god, another selfie to my collection”_

_“Sehun is so fucking handsome!!”_

He laughs at the comments, liking those he found funny. Scrolling leisurely through his feed, he’s startled when Sehun pokes at him and tells him it’s time for exercise. He makes a sound but pockets his phone and gets up. He misses a post by a certain man, telling his followers that he’s leaving for America for a long holiday.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _yes,_ there are streamers who stream for 12 hours straight. chanyeol's ign is based off saebyeolbe who is an absolute GOD and baek's is based off kabaji. anyway I've already written the next chapter and I'm going to continue writing, I'm so excited, I really hope all of you love it as much as I do! it's different from my usual (fluffier fics) so do tell me what you think (*´∀`*)
> 
> kudos and comments are very much appreciated~  
>  
> 
> p.s. this is [chanyeol](https://twitter.com/fishchipsyeol/status/982383389838848012) and this is [baekhyun](https://twitter.com/BUNNY_506/status/970624305481490432)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> winston = a hero in ow  
> fps = first person shooter  
> moba = (in this case) games like LoL, WoW

Baekhyun hasn’t gotten any proper rest since their scrims Saturday. He misses talking to Chanyeol and watching his stream — all they could exchange over the weekend were ‘How are you’s and ‘Good night’s. Thankfully, their coach had deemed them good enough to take Tuesday off, but everyone was too tired and opted to stay in the team house to rest before the big day.

Now, two hours before the match, Baekhyun is _glad_ he didn’t go home to stream, because he’s fucking spent. He smiles at his team and tells them they’re gonna be fine, but he’s nervous and his hands won’t stop trembling. “Relax a little,” Jongdae coaxes, sensing how tense Baekhyun is. “We have two hours left, why don’t you get something to eat and maybe listen to some music?”

Baekhyun shakes his head, choosing to stay in the lounge and analyse their past matches instead. They are already at the venue, and he can hear Excelsior laughing in the background, relaxed as ever. Baekhyun wonders how much time they’ve spent coming up with strategies and practising — probably not as much as his team did. Just then, a member of Excelsior comes up to him. He recognises the neon blue of their jersey, and it makes him want to puke. The colour is too bright for his liking.

“Hey,” Jongin says, waving in Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun frowns at him and goes back to analysing their match. “What do you want, brat?” He asks.

“Nothing. Just wanted to say hi to my favourite hyung,” Jongin answers, grinning at him. He sits beside Baekhyun and Baekhyun hates the contrast between their jerseys, but he likes Jongin, so he keeps quiet. “Good luck for the match later on,” Jongin continues, seemingly oblivious to Baekhyun’s foul mood. “Don’t worry too much. Remember to breathe. You look like someone just ran over your puppy.”

“Thanks Jongin,” Baekhyun mumbles, “you too. Good luck, I mean.” Baekhyun expects Jongin to leave him alone, but he only sits there quietly, looking like he has something to say.

“Transfer season’s coming up,” Jongin comments off-handedly. Baekhyun looks up at him, curious.

“Is Excelsior planning to trade anyone?” He questions, and Jongin laughs at him. “Hyung, do you think they’ll let us know before they decide to trade any of us away?”

“Right,” Baekhyun says, switching off the video. He doesn’t want to think about it now, and Jongdae and Jongin are right. He should relax, it’s only the first stage. Now he’s left to wonder if his managers are planning to drop any of his teammates. He worries about how they might react, because their team is close knit compared to most other League teams because they’ve been together since the Korean tournaments.

“Well,” Jongin starts, getting up from his seat. “See you later, let’s catch up soon,” he says with a smile. For a second there, Baekhyun forgets that he has to play against his friend.

“Bye Jongin!” Baekhyun yells as he walks away. He should probably stop seeing Excelsior as rivals, given that he’s friends with more than half of their roster. Besides, it’s just one match. Checking his phone for any missed messages, he sees one from Chanyeol. He smiles, opening the text, his smile growing wider.

 

 _Bambi  
_ _08:30_ Fighting! I’ll be rooting for u (❁´▽`❁)*✲ﾟ*

 

He goes to find his teammates for a little team-bonding time before the match starts.

 

+

 

The match is starting and he strains his ear to listen to the casters talk about the teams. He regrets it because all of them are expecting an exciting game because of the match up, but Baekhyun doesn’t feel ready. He can hear his heart drumming loudly and it isn’t because it’s excited. He’s anxious, worried that his team won’t live up to expectations. He can hear the fans cheering loudly in a language he doesn’t really understand, but it helps calms his nerves a little when he realises they’re rooting for them.

One of the staff pats him on the back, pushing him forward and urging him to enter the arena. He puts on a big smile and walks out with his arms stretched out, giving the fans high-fives as he leads the team to their seats. He keeps his eyes focused on the ground, still shy about the attention he’s getting. Once he reaches his seat, he lets out a sigh of relief and readies himself for the game.

“Let’s get it!” Jongdae nearly shouts into the headset and Baekhyun cringes at how high his volume is cranked up. The team responses with levelled enthusiasm, and Baekhyun weakly replies with a _hell yeah_. He’s thankful that they’re facing the fans, because they give him strength, as cheesy as it seems. Looking around the arena, he is once again awed by the amount of people there to watch them play. He expected a different kind of crowd here in the US of A, but it wasn’t much of a change from Korea, except the language and nationalities.

He can make out a few Korean-looking faces here and there, and it humbles him to know that there are Koreans supporting him even here. There are fan banners that say _‘baekkaji #1 winston’_ and _‘seoul dynasty fighting!’_ and it warms his heart. A banner catches his eye, because it holds their old team name instead of _Seoul Dynasty_ and Baekhyun smiles. But when he sees the face poking out from behind the banner, he stills in his seat.

“Jongdae…” Baekhyun murmurs into his mic, turning to look at him. “Tell me I’m seeing things and that’s not Ba- Chanyeol holding the _‘Lunatic Hai #1’_ banner.”

Jongdae is quiet for a second, before he actually yells into his mic, “HOLY SHIT that’s _actually_ Chanyeol. He’s actually here in America, what the fuck?” He leans out of his seat to wave at him, earning a slap on the back from Baekhyun.

“Stop screaming and pick your hero already,” Baekhyun snaps, stealing a glance at Chanyeol. It’s hard to do it discreetly when the huge monitor is right in front of him and he has to kinda tilt his head to see the crowd, but Chanyeol notices him and smiles widely, and Baekhyun can’t help but smile back.

He turns around and beckons to one of their Korean staff, who immediately goes to him and leans down as Baekhyun whispers in her ear. "See that guy holding the Lunatic Hai banner at the back? Can you get someone to bring him into the lounge later? He's a friend and I haven't seen him in _years_ , please?" Baekhyun pleads, and the staff is too kind to say no, so she nods her head. Baekhyun smiles at her, eyes twinkling with gratefulness. "Thank you!"

He thinks the match is gonna be just fine.

 

+

 

They don’t end up winning, but it’s a close game. They lose 2-3 and Baekhyun thinks his team did a great job anyway so they celebrate, since this is the closest they’ve ever been to beating Excelsior. Chanyeol is waiting in the lounge, sitting quietly as he looks around in amazement. Baekhyun is thankful his coach didn't ask anything about it and send Chanyeol back, because he honestly doesn’t want to go back into the arena and risk seeing disappointed fans. He wants to focus on the fact that Chanyeol is here instead.

“Man, I can’t believe you’re actually here,” Baekhyun breathes, standing in front of Chanyeol and pinching his cheeks. Chanyeol is a lot taller than he remembers, too. “Are you real? This can’t be. You didn’t tell me!”

“Surprise?” Chanyeol says as clearly as he can with his cheeks being squished. He is kinda shocked that Baekhyun would greet him like this, but he certainly isn’t complaining. “I’ll be here for a pretty long while, actually. I’ll make sure to attend all your matches.”

“You should to come to our team house and spend the day with us. We’re actually gonna have a barbeque with Excelsior tonight, you can meet the rest of my team too,” Baekhyun suggests excitedly, still in disbelief. He knows Chanyeol isn’t in America just for him, but he’s excited beyond words that someone flew over and visited him. Even his own parents are too preoccupied to do that.

Chanyeol seems to think about it for awhile before nodding his head in agreement. “All right, I’ll see you later then?” He makes a move to leave, but Baekhyun gently grabs onto his arm and stops him.

“Wait, do you have plans now?” He asks, praying that Chanyeol says no, because he really wants to spend some time alone with a friend before the team dinner — a friend who isn't in the Overwatch League. Chanyeol shakes his head no, and Baekhyun grins at him. “Want a tour around New York?”

“Uhh… okay,” Chanyeol agrees, not sounding too excited about it. Baekhyun frowns and tells him it’s okay if he doesn’t want to, but Chanyeol is quick to reassure him with a smile, saying he just didn’t expect it.

Baekhyun takes him to meet his team for a bit before telling them that they were heading out, and Jongdae smiles knowingly at them. “Have fun on your date,” he whispers into Baekhyun’s ear as Chanyeol talks to Sehun. ("We play together often," Chanyeol says when Baekhyun asks how he knows Sehun.)

Baekhyun glares at him before elbowing him in the ribs. “I don’t know what you’re on about. I’m just showing him around _as a friend_ because I know how lonely it is to be a solo tourist. _”_

“Sure you are,” Jongdae quips, and Baekhyun really wants to sock him in the face. He doesn’t, because he makes eye contact with Chanyeol, who smiles brightly at him and he forgets Jongdae is still there, looking at them.

 

+

 

Chanyeol doesn’t tell Baekhyun that he is still kinda jet-lagged and instead lets him drag him all over the foreign place. He thinks Baekhyun’s enthusiasm is kinda cute, but he doesn’t say that out loud. For someone who’s always pretty quiet and reserved on stream, Baekhyun is, as he had come to notice, quite the opposite of that around friends.

“You _have_ to try the pizza here. It’s really good, and quite frankly, I’m starving,” Baekhyun sighs dreamily as they enter the tiny pizzeria. Chanyeol is skeptical, but is soon proven wrong when he bites into the flavourful slice of pizza. It’s cheesy and meaty and Chanyeol _swears_ it practically melts in his mouth with every bite.

“This is really good,” he gushes in between bites, and Baekhyun gives him a brief smile before going back to devouring his own food.

“This is just the beginning,” Baekhyun replies. Chanyeol is curious what Baekhyun has in store for him, but he doesn’t ask. Instead, he continues to munch on his pizza and thinks about how this isn’t awkward at all even though Baekhyun and him weren’t really friends.

Back in high school, Baekhyun was known as one of the best FPS players in their school. Chanyeol was more of a MOBA person and Overwatch didn’t exist then, so they never really got to talk about video games even though it was the only thing they had in common apart from their circle of friends. Then, Baekhyun was already a streamer, albeit a small one. Chanyeol was just fine playing games leisurely.

And then Overwatch came out a year later and took over South Korea, and Chanyeol was _hooked._ It was bright, it was fast-paced, it was different, and he was naturally good at it. Chanyeol was absolutely in love, as was Baekhyun. They were both highly ranked, and Chanyeol started streaming, whereas Baekhyun simply changed games. Baekhyun got picked up by an e-sports team, but Chanyeol was happy where he was.

Chanyeol was always an avid follower of Baekhyun’s channel, but Baekhyun didn’t know that. Afterall, how was he supposed to recognise Chanyeol out of hundreds and thousands of subscribers? It was only after nearly two years that Baekhyun started following him out of the blue, and he was, suffice to say, overjoyed. And he simply can’t believe that he’s now friends with _the_ Byun Baekhyun.

“Are you even listening to me, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun wonders, snapping his fingers in Chanyeol’s face. Chanyeol snaps out of it, shaking his head a little.

“Sorry, I kinda spaced out,” Chanyeol apologises. Baekhyun has his camera app open, but he quickly closes it before Chanyeol notices. He bites back a sarcastic remark, telling Chanyeol it’s okay and that they should head out now, and Chanyeol follows him.

“How long will you be here for?” Baekhyun asks, making light conversation as they stroll the streets. Chanyeol shrugs in reply.

“I don’t know. Maybe a month?” Baekhyun’s jaw nearly drops, because a month of vacation _in one country_ is an awfully long time. He wonders if Chanyeol has anything to escape from back home, but he doesn’t say a word about it. He doesn’t feel like it’s his place to ask.

“How long have you been here? Are you staying in a hotel?”

“I rented an Airbnb for a bit and it’s been three days; the host is really nice. I might be staying with a friend instead, but I’m not very sure,” Chanyeol rattles on, and Baekhyun thinks it’s crazy. “Stay with me,” he suggests, and Chanyeol looks at him like he’s out of his mind.

“What?” Chanyeol has to confirm what Baekhyun just proposed. “Did you ask me to stay with you?”

“Yes...” Baekhyun trails off, as if unsure. “Isn’t that what friends do? Help each other? My apartment is big enough for the both of us, I have a spare room, obviously. I don’t think it’ll be much of a hassle. I got the rooms soundproofed too, so you could, you know. Stream.” Chanyeol immediately agrees, thanking Baekhyun profusely. He has nothing to lose from this, and he could use a bit of help now.

“I guess I’ll talk to my Airbnb host about it later,” Chanyeol states, feeling a lot lighter than before. Baekhyun nods.

“The bed won’t be as comfortable, but everything else is free for you to use. Hell, take all the food you want,” Baekhyun adds as an afterthought, making Chanyeol chuckle. “Thank you, Baekhyun. Really,” Chanyeol repeats, but Baekhyun only waves him off, saying it’s no problem at all.

“I still can’t believe you’ve been here for three days and didn’t think to tell me,” Baekhyun says incredulously. “I could’ve met you yesterday! It was my day off!”

Chanyeol laughs at the face Baekhyun’s making. “I know, you told me. I didn’t wanna bother you, you must have been tired.”

“Nonsense,” Baekhyun retorts, “you’re never a bother.” And Chanyeol smiles at that, cheeks reddening. Baekhyun doesn’t seem to know what his words do to him.

 

+

 

They end up spending the entire afternoon together, until Chanyeol announces that he want to go back to freshen up before dinner and hopefully catch his host before the man leaves. Baekhyun spends the time preparing the room for Chanyeol, setting up the computer for him and dusting the place. When he deems it good enough for living, he snaps a selfie with the room and sends it to Chanyeol.

 

 _You_  
_< Image attached>  _ _17:56  
_ Tada! °˖✧◝(⁰▿⁰)◜✧˖°   _17:56_

 _Bambi_  
_18:00_ Ur face takes up like  
_18:00_ The entire photo  
_18:00_ Dude

 _You  
_ _ <Image attached>  _ _18:02_

 _Bambi  
__18:03_ That’s better~

 _You_  
The computer set-up is old, but it works fine   _18:03  
_ I just switched because you know, sponsors. lol   _18:03_

 _Bambi  
__18:05_ That’s more than enough for me, thank you.

 

Baekhyun chuckles to himself and decides it’s time to take a shower and pick Chanyeol up. He frets over what to wear for a bit, before deciding on a simple t-shirt and jeans with his worn out sneakers.

When he arrives at Chanyeol’s bus stop, he tries not to stare at Chanyeol for too long, but it’s nearly impossible for him. “You look good,” Baekhyun blurts before he can stop himself. Chanyeol only smiles at him, blush apparent.

“Thanks, you look good yourself,” he gestures to Baekhyun’s outfit and Baekhyun laughs. “You’re shitting me. I look like I just got out of bed and changed into jeans,” he replies, getting on the bus that just arrived.

“It’s a nice casual outfit,” Chanyeol shrugs, not seeing anything wrong with it. Their trip is silent, save for a few moments Baekhyun asks him about their friends and life in Korea. When they arrive at the team house an hour later, they’re greeted by a slightly tipsy Jongdae and his girlfriend, and Baekhyun doesn’t find it a surprise that his friend is about to be drunk at 8pm.

He joins the two teams in the backyard with Chanyeol by his side, and is immediately attacked with a hug from Jongin. “Hyung! You did so well today,” Jongin exclaims, face still buried in Baekhyun’s chest. Baekhyun laughs, patting him on the back. “You too, Jongin,” Baekhyun honestly replies.

Chanyeol clears his throat and pipes up, “Hi, I’m Chanyeol. It’s nice to meet you.”

Jongin lets go of Baekhyun and hugs Chanyeol too, much to their surprise. “You’re that variety streamer who keeps Baekhyun-hyung up late at night, aren’t you? Any friend of hyung is a friend of mine!” Chanyeol chokes on his words, not knowing what to say, and Baekhyun laughs awkwardly, pushing Jongin away like a child as he fights back his blush. Damn that Jongin.

“Jongin is… very friendly. We became friends at Apex and he’s very dear to me,” Baekhyun says fondly, referring to their first Korean tournament. Chanyeol only nods, still thinking about what Jongin said. “Come on, you can meet the rest of my team, and then I’ll introduce you to the famous New York Excelsior,” Baekhyun says excitedly.

Baekhyun brings him to his team by the grill, where they’re discussing their match from earlier, and Excelsior is there too. “Hey guys,” Baekhyun chirps, smiling at everyone. He gets a warm greeting in return, and his coach comes up to him, clapping him on the back.

“Great work today, Byun,” he commends, nodding his head. “You’re just in time. We’re having another showdown against Excelsior to see which team manages the grill today.” Baekhyun rolls his eyes, expecting this to happen. It happens every time they eat with another team at their team house, and Baekhyun has lost count of the number of times that has happened. “It’s to bond with other teams so that we don’t have bad blood with each other,” his coach always reminds them.

“Jongdae is drunk as hell, though, and no one is here to sub him,” Sehun chimes in.

Chanyeol immediately volunteers. “I’ll do it. Jongdae plays off-tank too, right?” All eyes are on him, and he thinks maybe he shouldn’t have said anything at all. “I, uh, if it helps, I’m _bambi_ on the top 500 leaderboard,” he says sheepishly, when he realises probably no one knows who he is, even if they’ve played with him before. It’s not like these pros watch his stream, right?

“So _you’re_ Bambi,” someone from Excelsior speaks up, “we’ve played together before.” Some nod in agreement, and before anyone else can say a word, Baekhyun butts in. “Great, so it’s settled! Chanyeol subs for Jongdae. Let’s go!”

They head into the team house where the practice rooms are, and Chanyeol moves to take Jongdae’s seat. He’s stopped by Baekhyun’s coach, who has a stern expression on his face. Chanyeol thinks he might just shit his pants. “What do you normally play?”

“Support, sir. But I flex, sometimes tanks,” Chanyeol answers promptly, mentally praising himself for not stuttering. The coach only hums in reply and says good luck, and leaves. When Chanyeol sits beside Baekhyun, he’s about to smile at the man but he sees that Baekhyun has his game face on.

He glances at the rest of the team, and it seems that they take this match even more seriously than their tournament matches. Baekhyun taps him on the shoulder and warns him that no one on the team wants to do the cooking, and that Chanyeol better play like his life is on the line. Chanyeol can only gulp in response. He thinks he’s fucked.

 

+

 

Unlike tournaments where they play best of five, they only play one game. The teams agree on one map that they’re both good at, and Chanyeol is a little afraid. The game doesn’t last more than 20 minutes and the entire team is yelling their heads off when they win, and Chanyeol rejoices with them even though he’s thinks it’s weird how they take this so seriously.

The teams compliment Chanyeol and he shies away from them, not expecting top players to think so highly of him. As Excelsior handles the grill, Chanyeol sits with Dynasty and listens to them talk about the things they like in America and the things they miss about Korea. Chanyeol reveals that he actually brought things from Korea and that he can share it with them, and the whole team is nearly in tears when Chanyeol promises to bring the stuff the next time he visits. He leaves out the fact that they were actually meant for Baekhyun, because Baekhyun just received a giant parcel from him days ago, and he doesn’t want them to think his entire life revolves around the man.

The coach asks Chanyeol if he’s currently in any team at all, and Chanyeol shakes his head bashfully. “I don’t think I can live any more than a month outside of Korea without being homesick,” he says truthfully.

“How can you say that when you’ve never tried it?” Sehun points out, confused. How could anyone claim to dislike something when they’ve never experienced it at all? Chanyeol shrugs in response. It seems to be the only thing he does nowadays.

“Jongdae’s girlfriend is bringing Kiki over tomorrow,” Baekhyun quickly changes the topic to Jongdae’s pet dog, and Chanyeol shoots him a look, whispering a word of thanks. Baekhyun smiles back at him, boldly placing a hand on his thigh to ease him up. He looks at Chanyeol to gauge his reaction, but if Chanyeol is surprised, he doesn’t show it.

His palm stays on until they get up and everyone is taking their leave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SURPRISE?
> 
> just felt like the first chapter wasn't enough of a hook, but I separated these two anyway because they're different scenes. next updateeeee probably next friday night kst! tell me what you think! :~)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 5.3k of fluff and feelings. beta'd ʕ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°ʔ finally ʕ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°ʔ
> 
> terminology:  
> CS = counter strike. FPS game  
> master = high rank in LoL  
> ✓ nightbot = auto mod in twitch

Chanyeol unofficially moves in on Friday. Baekhyun has already cleaned his place a thousand times, and even his viewers have commented that the place looks neater than usual. They say he looks happier too, but he doesn’t tell them anything.

When Chanyeol knocks on his door at 9am — a bit too early for Baekhyun’s liking — Baekhyun momentarily forgets that Chanyeol was supposed to be there. He opens the door with a frown on his face, bedhead and all, about to make a fuss, but he sees Chanyeol’s face and just blinks at him. Chanyeol seems sorry for waking Baekhyun up on his off-day, but Baekhyun rubs the sleep out of his eyes and happily welcomes Chanyeol in, his sour mood gone.

“This is your room,” Baekhyun says, showing Chanyeol around. He involuntarily yawns, and Chanyeol quietly apologises once again for waking him up so early in the morning. Baekhyun shakes his head, helping Chanyeol to put his stuff down by the bed. “I would’ve woken up at this time anyway,” Baekhyun easily lies through his teeth. He would have woken up at 2 in the afternoon and stayed in bed till 5pm.

“Have you had breakfast?” Baekhyun asks, walking to the kitchen. Chanyeol trails behind him like a lost puppy and shakes his head no. “Let’s have breakfast now then,” Baekhyun goes on, opening his fridge. “We can unpack your things later.”

Chanyeol peers into the fridge, and Baekhyun smiles sheepishly at him. There’s close to no food in it, save for snacks and energy drinks. _How does anyone live like this?_ Chanyeol wonders to himself. “Toast?” Baekhyun suggests.

“Doesn’t seem like you have anything else. So much for ‘take all the food you want’,” Chanyeol jokes, earning a playful punch on the shoulder. “Why don’t you live in the dorms?”

“My uncle owns this place,” Baekhyun explains, “it’s a spare apartment. He says I can stay here for as long as I need to. I don’t really like living in the dorms anyway.”

“Ah,” Chanyeol says, not too sure how to continue the conversation. He was never one to make small talk and he usually doesn’t care much for it, but being around Baekhyun makes him want to talk more, even when he doesn’t know what to say. But thankfully, Baekhyun seems to notice his struggle. “Do you wanna go to the grocery store with me today?”

Chanyeol looks at him mid-chew and regrets it, because _god damn_ how can someone look so good fresh out of bed? “The bread’s gonna fall out if you don’t shut your mouth,” Baekhyun muses, resting his chin on his palm as he watches Chanyeol with half-lidded eyes. Chanyeol gulps and nods his head.

“Yeah, sure,” he replies, looking away. Looking at Baekhyun does weird things to his heart. He remembers the first time he met Baekhyun in high school — Baekhyun was the one who approached him first — or approached his friend, rather. Baekhyun was asking his friend to go to the PC cafe, and his friend introduced the both of them.

 _“I can’t make it today. Chanyeolie can accompany you, he likes playing games too.”_ _Chanyeol shot a look at his friend, but he only smiled and took his leave._

_“Well,” Baekhyun started. “Guess I’m stuck with you. Let’s go.”_

_“I- I don’t play CS well,” Chanyeol said, “I’m more of a League person myself.”_

_“That’s good then,” Baekhyun chirped, dragging Chanyeol along with him. “We’re playing that today.” Chanyeol was confused, because wasn’t Baekhyun a CS player? He never knew Baekhyun played League of Legends just like him, but he kept quiet anyway._

_“Hey, you’re quite good at this game, aren’t you?” Baekhyun asked, two hours into their gaming session. Chanyeol laughed, embarrassed. “I’m all right, I guess.”_

_Baekhyun huffed in disbelief. “I heard from Kyungsoo that you were nearly Master last season. That’s skill, man. You should totally start streaming!”_

_“That was once! I probably won’t reach that rank ever again,” Chanyeol replied. “No one would wanna watch me stream.”_

_“You don’t have to show your face,” Baekhyun retorted. “I don’t stream with a face cam. People like it anyway. Faces are just a bonus.”_

_“You should,” Chanyeol shot back quickly, deflecting the attention from himself. “You’re handsome. Could rake in a lot more viewers with that kind of good looks.”_

Chanyeol will never forget the way Baekhyun’s cheeks seemed to redden as he denied it, and he wonders why they even stopped talking in the first place. Was Baekhyun uncomfortable around him? Or did he find Chanyeol boring then?

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol begins, and Baekhyun perks up. “Yeah?”

“Why weren’t we closer in high school?”

Baekhyun seems to be deep in thought as he doesn’t say a word for a minute or two, sipping on his drink. “Maybe because we never really had anything in common. You were good at League, I wasn’t. I only played CS, and it wasn’t your kind of game.”

 _But some of your friends weren’t into CS either,_ Chanyeol wants to say, but “oh,” is all he can muster.

“But we’re friends now, right?” Baekhyun asks cheerfully, as if he’s unsure of their relationship. Baekhyun doesn’t want to tell him that it’s because 17 year old him was afraid Chanyeol might’ve found him weird and that he didn’t want to ruin the cool image Chanyeol had of him. Now that he thinks about it, it’s kind of a stupid reason.

“Of course,” Chanyeol doesn’t miss a beat. He gets up from his seat, sighing loudly. “I have to unpack now, otherwise I’ll never get it done.”

“I’ll help you,” Baekhyun says as he quickly finishes up his drink, getting up as well. Chanyeol doesn’t stop him, and instead directs him on how to arrange his belongings.

“You don’t seem to have a lot of stuff with you,” Baekhyun observes as he gently throws the contents of the luggage on the floor. He feels like he’s intruding on Chanyeol’s privacy as he sorts through the man’s clothing, but he keeps a straight face as he does anyway. He’s just helping a friend.

“I’m here for a holiday, not here to stay. I only brought my necessities,” Chanyeol replies, standing up. “Do you have spare hangers I could use? I’m not a fan of folding my clothes…”

“Yeah I do, they’re actually right outside on the couch. I wanted to put them into the room for you, but I forgot. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry,” Chanyeol chuckles, leaving the room. Baekhyun continues to sort Chanyeol’s things — the man didn’t even bother folding his clothes nicely, Baekhyun realises. He was probably too lazy to repack everything when he already unpacked at his previous host’s home. Baekhyun feels slightly guilty even though he didn’t know Chanyeol was coming to America. He just wishes Chanyeol told him to avoid all the trouble. He looks tired as hell.

Baekhyun stops in his tracks when he feels something hard and lumpy underneath the clothes. His immediate thought is that it’s a hairdryer or something, but why would Chanyeol bring a hairdryer overseas? Lifting up the shorts that is covering the item, Baekhyun freezes, his cheeks burning.

That isn’t a hairdryer. It’s… a vibrator. He’s sure of it, even though he’s never actually seen one in front of him before. He wants to pick it up out of sheer curiosity, but isn’t that unsanitary? Before he can react, the cream-coloured object is swiped off the floor by an embarrassed Chanyeol, and Baekhyun just wants to coo at him for being so adorable. “I think I can finish packing on my own now,” Chanyeol dismisses him, refusing to meet Baekhyun’s eyes. Baekhyun panics, because Chanyeol looks like he’s about to cry.

“Don’t… I’m sorry- I shouldn’t have seen that,” Baekhyun fumbles with his words. He doesn’t know if he did anything wrong but he feels the need to say sorry. “I won’t judge you, you know?”

“Please just go,” Chanyeol’s voice wavers, and Baekhyun’s mood is dampened. He didn’t know Chanyeol would react so strongly to something like that. Something must’ve happened before and he wants to know, but he excuses himself from the room. Was Chanyeol ever bullied for his sexuality?

 _You don’t even know if he’s gay,_ Baekhyun’s conscience mocks, and he rolls his eyes. Why else would Chanyeol react that way? The vibrator must’ve been his. Baekhyun can’t help but think of _Chanyeol._ Chanyeol naked on his bed. Chanyeol touching himself. Chanyeol inserting- “Stop it,” he chides himself, shaking his head. “Chanyeol is just a friend.” He sniffs himself, making a face when he notices the stench. Time to take a shower.

 

+

 

Baekhyun spends the rest of the morning giving Chanyeol his space. After his shower, he starts streaming and his viewers are amazed because Baekhyun always streams at night.

Now, three hours into Overwatch, he feels lethargic and he can’t stop thinking about Chanyeol. He knows Chanyeol is still in his room, probably procrastinating because he’s lazy, but Baekhyun doesn’t want to disturb him. He looks through his chat and replies to some people.

 **OrisaMain  
** Omg, my Friday is instantly blessed

 **OrisaMain  
** I RUSHED HOME FOR THIS

 **qkfthals  
** @orisamain same. School work? What’s school????

 **CATPAW_OW  
**!uptime

 **✓** **Nightbot  
** BAEKKAJI has been live for 3 hours 12 minutes 9 seconds!

“School work is important, kids,” Baekhyun reminds his chat. It’s going slow today, since most people are busy in the afternoons, but it’s still a sizeable audience. He’s on YouTube, watching videos that his viewers are linking him as he waits for the game to put him into a match. Just then, Chanyeol knocks on his door and pokes his head through a tiny gap. “Um…”

Baekhyun is startled, and he instinctively mutes his mic and shuts his face cam off. He turns to look at Chanyeol as he takes off his headset. “Do you wanna… the groceries?” Chanyeol asks hesitantly, looking everywhere except at Baekhyun.

“...Now?” Baekhyun questions, glancing at his screen. He switches back to Overwatch and sees that a match hasn’t been found, so he stops queuing for one. “Yeah, sure, I was about to ask you anyway.”

“Were you streaming?” Chanyeol guesses, furrowing his eyebrows. He doesn’t give Baekhyun a chance to deny it before he rambles on. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have barged in. We can go later! It’s not a big deal. Sorry.”

Baekhyun doesn’t answer him. Instead, he unmutes his mic and turns his camera back on, putting on his best puppy face. “Sorry guys, I have to end the stream here. I’ll see you soon. Bye!” He hastily shuts down his computer and pats his shirt down, smiling brightly at Chanyeol. “Let’s go.”

Everyone in the chat is going crazy over the silhouette of a man at Baekhyun’s door and they’re wondering since when Baekhyun started bringing friends over when he streamed.

The supermarket is a short distance from Baekhyun’s apartment, so they decide to take a nice stroll through the park on the way there. Chanyeol is mostly quiet, but Baekhyun knows he wants to say something. He lets Chanyeol gather his thoughts as he tries not to say anything to the man. “Um…”

Baekhyun looks hopefully at Chanyeol, expecting him to finally say something, _anything,_ but he is left frustrated when Chanyeol purses his lips once more and doesn’t say a word. He figures that Chanyeol is probably still upset over the vibrator incident, and he doesn’t know how to comfort the man.

“If it makes you feel better, I’m bi. I mean sure, I like men and women, but I’m more of dick person, you know?” Baekhyun casually discloses the information to Chanyeol as if he was talking about the weather. “You don’t have to worry so much about it around me. You probably thought I was going to make fun of you or hate you for it, but we’re basically the same, so don’t sweat it,” he adds softly. “No one will judge you for it here either. I’ll make sure of it. Just enjoy your stay. That’s what you’re here for.”

Chanyeol looks surprised, but he remains silent anyway as he takes in the information. How could Baekhyun be so nonchalant about something that Chanyeol spent his life worrying over? It isn’t like his parents _forbid_ him from dating men — he just… why did he do it? Try so desperately to hide it? He doesn’t know. “Thank you,” Chanyeol manages to say, relieved that Baekhyun isn’t asking any questions. He just wants to go home now, back to Baekhyun’s apartment.

“There’s nothing to thank me for,” Baekhyun replies. “Hey, you like dogs don’t you?” Chanyeol nods his head enthusiastically, wondering why Baekhyun asked him that. Baekhyun looks around and drags Chanyeol to the nearest bench, sitting them down as he texts Jongdae. “Give me a sec.”

 

 _You_  
I’m babysitting Kiki today.   _14:45_  
You’re welcome   _14:45_

 

 _JD_  
_14:45_ i dont remember asking u to tho??  
_14:46_??????

 

 _You_  
JUST LET ME TAKE MY FAVOURITE DOG OUT   _14:46_  
I’ll be there in 15   _14:46_  
With chanyeol   _14:47_

 

 _JD_  
_14:45_ oooooo i get it  
_14:46_ have fun ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

 _You  
_ Shut up   _14:46_

 _JD_  
_14:47_ that lines getting old  
_14:47_ maybe change ur catchphrase

 

 _You  
_ Did I ask?????   _14:48_

 

 _JD_  
_14:48_ i didnt ask you to take kiki out either  
_14:48_ but here we are

 

Baekhyun sucks in a breath, annoyed. He looks up at Chanyeol and grins at him, much to Chanyeol’s confusion. “Fuck the groceries. What do you want for lunch? We’ll get take out.”

 

+

 

They arrive at Jongdae’s place pretty quick since it’s near the supermarket that they had originally planned to go to. Chanyeol suggests getting the groceries on the way back, but Baekhyun whines and tells him they can do it the next day instead.

“You haven’t seen Kiki, have you?” Baekhyun asks. “She’s a pretty lil thing. A samoyed, about 8 months old-”

“I’ve seen her on Jongdae’s streams,” Chanyeol cuts in excitedly, “I’ve always wanted a pet, but my parents are pretty against it. Fur and all. I bet they’ll get one soon though, because I just moved out and they’re gonna feel lonely and stuff.”

Baekhyun knocks on Jongdae’s door and waits a moment before fishing a key out of his pocket and unlocking the door on his own. Chanyeol looks on in surprise, kicking off his shoes. “I didn’t know the two of you were that close,” Chanyeol comments, entering the home with Baekhyun in front of him. A large white dog comes running towards them, pouncing onto Baekhyun’s legs.

“Mhm, we’re pretty close I guess. We were friends even back in Korea,” Baekhyun replies vaguely before yelling for Jongdae. “Dude, I’ve come to pick Kiki up!” Chanyeol laughs when Kiki paws at him and stands on her hind legs, begging for Chanyeol to lift her up.

“Are you sure she’s only 8 months old? She’s already so big!” Chanyeol exclaims, gently picking her up. “Oof, she’s heavy too,” he adds as he sits on the ground and pets her. Jongdae emerges from a room with a smile on his face and Kiki gets up from Chanyeol’s lap, wanting her owner instead.

“Hi Chanyeol,” Jongdae greets, completely ignoring Baekhyun’s presence. He hugs Kiki to his chest protectively, glaring at Chanyeol. “Take good care of her, okay?” Chanyeol nods his head fervently, arms itching to reach out for the ball of fluff but he resists, keeping his butt glued to the ground.

“Aren’t you gonna greet me, you asshat?” Baekhyun grumbles, crossing his arms as he looks for Kiki’s essentials.

“Kiki’s stuff is in my room. Come and get them,” Jongdae says instead, letting go of Kiki as he walks back to his room. “Kiki’s treats are in the kitchen drawer by the sink, Chanyeol. Do help yourself to them and food in the fridge if you’re hungry.”

Chanyeol nods his head, too preoccupied with Kiki to respond. Baekhyun follows Jongdae to the room and raises a brow when Jongdae closes the door behind them. Jongdae has a serious expression on his face and Baekhyun feels uncomfortable. Is Jongdae going to shout at him?

“You look really angry,” Baekhyun says carefully, sitting on Jongdae’s bed. Jongdae frowns and sits behind Baekhyun, looking at the ground. “I just… Are you serious about Chanyeol?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Baekhyun sputters, leaning away from Jongdae. He rolls his eyes at Baekhyun and lies back on his bed.

“Look, I’m just saying — Chanyeol is not someone for you to fuck with. He’s not the type to have one-night stands or friends with benefits. Hell, he’s never even had a boyfriend before. None of that shit,” Jongdae starts, but Baekhyun scoffs and shakes him off.

“I don’t need you to tell me that. Chanyeol and I are _just friends._ I know my boundaries and I’m not as… ‘promiscuous’ as before,” Baekhyun retorts irritatedly, waving his hands around. The words leave a bitter taste on his tongue, and he doesn’t want to think about how licentious and uncaring he was in the past. Jongdae studies him for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and handing him Kiki’s items.

“Chanyeol’s not only your friend, he’s mine too. We don’t talk as often as the two of you do, but I probably know more about him than you do,” Jongdae says glumly.

“I didn’t even know the two of you were on talking terms until we had the bbq,” Baekhyun sourly retorts. He knows how jealous he sounds, but he doesn’t care. He feels left out and he’s willing to admit that.

“You never asked, and it never came up,” Jongdae replies, “but we don’t talk much, if that’s what you’re wondering. I’m just someone he talks to when he needs advice or a listening ear, y’know?” Baekhyun stays silent because no, he doesn’t know. _Why can’t he just talk to me?_ Baekhyun stiffly nods his head once anyway.

“Please, just don’t do anything stupid. Unlike all your other flings, Chanyeol is your friend _first,_ ” Jongdae repeats, and Baekhyun tsks. “I get it, you don’t trust me with him.”

“That’s not what-”

“Just forget it. I know you have good intentions, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt when you say shit like this like I’m some asshole,” Baekhyun interrupts, tone clipped. He knows he’s being petty and that Jongdae struck a nerve because he was right, but he can’t help the words flowing out of his mouth. “I won’t hurt Chanyeol. I won’t even ask him out, okay? He’s not my play thing. He never will be.”

Jongdae sighs for the nth time, giving up. He quietly opens the door to let Baekhyun out, the both of them lingering at the entrance for a moment. “If you say so. Have fun on your date. Tell me if Kiki misbehaves. She seems to have taken a liking to Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun side-eyes Jongdae, leaning against the door. “It’s not a date,” he murmurs, watching with fondness as Chanyeol plays with Kiki. “And I can see how Kiki is with him. Everyone just gravitates towards him... He’s just so easy to lo- like.”

“Anyway,” Baekhyun lifts himself off the door, “we’ll get going. I’ll bring her back-”

“Tomorrow. You bring her back tomorrow afternoon.” Baekhyun gives him a look, but doesn’t object. “That’s fine with me. It’s not like I have plans anyway.”

They walk to Chanyeol and Baekhyun tunes out what Jongdae’s saying to the former as he puts Kiki into her harness and leashes her. Baekhyun steps out of the house first, patiently waiting as the two of them finish up their conversation. Chanyeol hugs Jongdae goodbye, and Baekhyun finds himself looking away.

 

+

 

Taking Kiki out is possibly the best decision Baekhyun has made in months. Chanyeol looks so carefree and cheery around the Samoyed, Baekhyun is seriously considering getting him a pet for his birthday. They’re in the park, and Baekhyun is sitting on a bench while Chanyeol is practically rolling on the grass with Kiki. “I can just wash my clothes later,” Chanyeol smiled when he noticed Baekhyun’s curious gaze.

“You can take her leash off, but keep the harness on,” Baekhyun tells him, and Chanyeol eagerly takes off her leash.

“Does she play fetch? Does she bite?” Chanyeol asks as Kiki tugs on the toy he’s holding. Baekhyun hums as he thinks of an answer.

“She can play tug of war?” Baekhyun suggests, grinning. “She’s still pretty young; she can fetch the toy, but there’s no guarantee she’ll bring it back to you. And she doesn’t bite people, so you don’t have to worry about her running away and injuring someone.”

“That’s a relief then,” Chanyeol states, throwing the toy some distance away. Kiki runs excitedly to it, but she stays there with the toy instead of bringing it back to Chanyeol. He laughs, waiting for her to come back. “How long are we staying here for? We haven’t eaten lunch yet,” Chanyeol asks, looking at Baekhyun.

“Are you hungry? If you are, we could play a little more before grabbing food,” Baekhyun answers. “Kiki will be with us till tomorrow afternoon.” Chanyeol’s eyes light up with delight when he hears that, and he stands up to get Kiki. “Sounds good! Give me like, 10 more minutes. The park must be refreshing for her.” Baekhyun nods and gets back to his phone, looking through Instagram before deciding to take a photo of Chanyeol and Kiki to post on her Instagram later. Jongdae was just like nearly every pet lover he knew — somehow they all had Instagram accounts for their pets.

The account was entrusted to him by Jongdae so that Baekhyun could post on his behalf whenever he was busy, but Baekhyun found himself updating more often than he was asked to. Jongdae doesn’t mind, anyway. Now is one of those times. He snaps a few more photos of them before going up to them and asking Chanyeol if he could post photos of him with Kiki on her account, to which Chanyeol happily agrees.

 _‘Kiki has a special guest with her today!’_ Baekhyun types, adding the typical hashtags to his caption. He tags Chanyeol in the photos and posts them. He then starts an Instagram live because it’s not enough for him, and leaves out his own face. He wants everyone to see how adorable they are Kiki is.

“Kiki has made a new friend!” Baekhyun says as he films Chanyeol and Kiki playing. Baekhyun watches the comments pour in as Chanyeol tries to make Kiki do some tricks. He laughs at how cute they are, and the audience seems to agree.

 

 **qkfhzhals** **  
** Someone tell me I’m dreaming

 **qkfhzhals  
** Isn’t that baekkaji’s voice

 **mayathechowchow  
** omg they r so cute together!!

 **bambi_ow_fan  
** yeah its him. the owner of this acc is  
eSl aka off-tank for seoul dynasty~

 **herefordogs  
** Goddamn they cute

 

He runs the Instagram live for only 10 minutes before saying goodbye and shutting it off, Chanyeol holding Kiki’s paw and waving it to the camera. “Come on, I can hear your stomach growling. We can get Mc Donald’s or something,” Baekhyun points out, and Chanyeol beams at him. Baekhyun feels indescribably happy whenever Chanyeol smiles at him like he’s the only one he sees, and he thinks that maybe a relationship won’t be as daunting as everyone makes it out to be. Something bubbles in his chest whenever Chanyeol is a tad too close, and he tries to keep it down.

He’s kind of afraid, but he won’t say it out loud. Chanyeol’s growing on him and he doesn’t want the man to leave.

 

+

 

The rest of the afternoon is gone in a flash, Baekhyun spending the time sleeping and Chanyeol just lazing around with Kiki. Chanyeol’s stomach is growling even though it’s only been three to four hours since they last ate.

“There’s a really good Korean take-out down the street that I always order from. Here’s the menu and their number, just call them and order anything for me. My treat,” Baekhyun says to Chanyeol, handing him his phone. “I’ll be in the shower.”

Chanyeol accepts the phone and looks through the menu boredly, not knowing what to get. He decides on a little bit of everything since he’s starving, and waits for it to arrive as he lies on the floor with Kiki. The Samoyed stares at him as she lies on her side, as if judging him. He smooths her fur down and takes a few pictures of her, posting one to Instagram captioned _‘am I getting too attached to you?’_

But he soon realises that he should have worded it better, because people are commenting and wondering what the hell happened, and Chanyeol has to edit his caption and change ‘you’ to ‘Kiki’.

 

 **baekkajifanpage  
** For a sec there i thought he was  
referring to our baek

 **ally.ow  
** @baekkajifanpage why the hell…? Leave  
ur shipping out of this pls

 **123.45s  
** so you were w/ baekhyun today???

 

Chanyeol wants to bury himself alive. Why would anyone think ‘you’ would be anyone else other than Kiki, when the picture was of the Samoyed? Why would _anyone_ think it was about Baekhyun? “That’s ridiculous,” he says to himself aloud, chuckling nervously.

The doorbell rings after thirty minutes or so, and Chanyeol is startled. He gets up from the floor and drags himself to the door as Kiki looks on curiously, tilting her head. “Here’s the food you ordered… oh?” The delivery guy seems confused, and Chanyeol gratefully takes the food from him, confused as well. The delivery man did _not_ speak in English just then.

“If you’re wondering where the owner of this apartment is, he’s in the shower,” Chanyeol informs the guy, and the man scratches his head sheepishly. “Ah, I see. Baekhyun doesn’t normally have anyone around, as far as I know, so I was surprised. A Korean, too…” the man trails off as Chanyeol makes payment. “Anyway, tell him Junmyeon says hi. Enjoy your food!”

Chanyeol yells out a thank you and closes the door. Kiki is pawing eagerly at Chanyeol’s feet, wanting a taste of the food too, but Chanyeol gently shakes her off and tells her she’s already had her food. Just then, Baekhyun enters the living hall in his bathrobe with a towel in hand, his hair still dripping wet from the shower. “Jesus, dry your hair before you soak the couch,” Chanyeol exclaims, putting the food on the dining table. Kiki attempts to climb the chairs but Chanyeol lifts her up and puts her on Baekhyun’s lap. “Stay,” he says as sternly as he can, and goes back to preparing the table.

Baekhyun turns his head to watch Chanyeol with Kiki in his arms. He rests his head on his palm, gazing affectionately at Chanyeol. _He really looks like he belongs here,_ Baekhyun notes, smiling to himself. “The delivery man — Junmyeon, his name? — told me to say hello for him,” Chanyeol passes on. Baekhyun snaps out of his daze and Chanyeol continues, “He’s Korean too? What a small world.”

“Oh, yeah. This area is filled with Koreans, and the place only hires Koreans anyway. They like to keep their authenticity,” Baekhyun explains, putting Kiki aside and joining Chanyeol at the dining table. He dries his hair with the towel around his neck, beads of water dripping down his chest. Chanyeol tries his hardest not to be distracted, but it’s difficult when Baekhyun sits on the opposite side and leans on his elbow like that. Baekhyun stirs his food around, starting on the _kong-guksu._  He licks his lips in excitement, and Chanyeol feels the need to look away.

“I see,” Chanyeol replies. “You order from them often? He said he was surprised because you don’t bring friends home much.” Baekhyun chokes on his food, covering his mouth as he reaches out for a napkin.

“What does he know anyway,” Baekhyun grumbles. “I order from them like 5 times a week. It’s cheap and good and I’m just really lazy to prepare my own meals. Junmyeon delivers to me often, I’d say we’re friends at this point.”

“I can see that. Your laziness, I mean,” Chanyeol says, blowing on his _bokkeum-bap._ It’s been nearly a week since he left, and eating this makes him miss his mom’s fried rice even more. “Do you want me to teach you some quick fixes? They won’t take you more than, say, 40 minutes.” Baekhyun looks up at him, and grins at him. “Yeah, sure. We can start tomorrow after getting groceries,” he laughs.

“Sounds good,” Chanyeol says quietly, munching on his food. He could get used to this domesticity — coming home to a loved one and talking about anything and everything. He stabs at his food when his conscience reminds him that he and Baekhyun are just friends and that Baekhyun would never see him that way — not that he wants it. Not at all.

The silence that fills the room is comfortable. The both of them are practically _inhaling_ their food while Kiki chews on her toy, and they don’t have much to talk about. Baekhyun finishes up first, but instead of leaving the table, he stays and waits for Chanyeol to finish, but his piercing gaze is unnerving. Chanyeol quickly swallows his food down and wipes his mouth, getting up. “Thank you for the food,” he says. But just when he’s about to leave, Baekhyun calls out for him.

“Can you… do you wanna just talk for a bit? You don’t have to leave so soon,” Baekhyun pouts, and Chanyeol feels weak.

“O-okay,” Chanyeol stutters, and Baekhyun claps in delight. He grabs a few cans of beer and drags Chanyeol along with him to the couch, and Chanyeol fidgets in his seat. Baekhyun looks so relaxed, and Chanyeol glances at him every now and then to admire his face.

“Aren’t you gonna put some clothes on?” Chanyeol wonders.

“I have boxers underneath the bathrobe, and I’m going to sleep after this anyway. I’m just keeping it on because you’re around, I don’t normally have a t-shirt on at home,” Baekhyun casually remarks, but Chanyeol’s the one who’s embarrassed.

“Oh,” he says meekly. He feels like it may be a little awkward to talk to Baekhyun like this, but after a few beers and the movie playing in the background, he finds that it’s the same as all their other conversations, but this time, Baekhyun is actually right beside him. He can actually feel Baekhyun’s warmth, hear Baekhyun’s crisp laughter, and he can see all of Baekhyun. It actually feels _real._

He’s leaning towards Baekhyun, but his body isn’t touching any part of him, even though Chanyeol really wants to lean on him. Chanyeol’s a little more than just buzzed, and his head feels a little heavy. _I’ll just close my eyes for a little while._ Baekhyun’s voice is getting further and further away, but he’s too comfortable in this state to listen to him.

Baekhyun is surprised when Chanyeol’s body slides down the couch and rests his head on his lap. He tenses up, unsure of what to do. “Chanyeol?” he whispers, but he gets no response. Slowly and carefully, he reaches down to run his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair gently, and the man _whines._ It’s soft, but Baekhyun knows he heard what he heard. He kinda wants to get up, but Chanyeol is just like a puppy — he doesn’t want to move lest Chanyeol wakes up.

He sighs and doesn’t bother trying to move. “Good night,” he murmurs, smiling fondly at the man on his lap. He caresses Chanyeol’s hair and stops for a moment to reach out for the blanket he keeps near the couch for lazy days, putting it over Chanyeol’s body. The position is _slightly_ uncomfortable but Baekhyun can get used to it.

He could get used to this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> let me know what you think!! any comment is a good comment :D
> 
>  
> 
> 22 jul edit: holy shit I can't believe I made a plot error here and no one noticed


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another 5.3k but this time delving into chanchen's friendship! it starts and ends with baekyeol, though. not much about gaming this time. **note:** faline is bambi’s mate in Disney lol
> 
> p.s. beta'd by a certain non-fandom friend ~~fuck~~ thank u

Chanyeol wakes up to Kiki licking his hands. He sits up on the hard ground and rubs his back tiredly- _why am I on the floor?_ “Must’ve fallen asleep here,” he mumbles to himself, patting Kiki. “Good morning.”

Kiki sneezes in response, and he chuckles. When he looks up to the couch, the sight of Baekhyun sleeping soundly greets him, and he swears his heart skips a beat just then. The man is sprawled on the couch that’s slightly too small for him, and he’s snoring softly. Chanyeol thinks he’s cute, and he wants to stare a little longer, but he has a lot to do.

Fixing himself and Kiki a quick breakfast, he goes to his room to grab a change of clothes and his toothbrush and tip-toes to the bathroom, careful not to wake Baekhyun. It’s his second time using this bathroom and he’s still shocked by how messy it is. His hands are itching to just clean the entire apartment, but he resists. He makes a mental note to talk to Baekhyun about it later.

He steps into the shower and happily sighs when the hot water touches his skin. His mind reels him back to the night before and he blushes as he thinks about the little moments of intimacy. He had talked to Baekhyun about his life in Korea and how he was afraid to come out, amongst other things.

_“Were you ever bullied for being gay?” Baekhyun curiously asked, gulping down his third can of beer. Chanyeol was only on his first, but he knew he couldn’t hold his liquor well so he drank slowly._

_“Umm…” Chanyeol started as he thought of what to say. Kiki was lying beside him on the couch, curled up into a ball. “No…? I never really_ told _anyone. My parents know, though. We’re close,” Chanyeol answered quietly, stroking Kiki’s fur._

_Baekhyun looked at him in surprise. “Not even Minseok-hyung?” He asked, referring to their mutual friend. “I know hyung wouldn’t have judged you. He knew from the moment we met that I play for the other team. Mostly.”_

_Chanyeol shook his head, smiling wanly. “I didn’t tell him, but he found out. I cried a lot when he did, but he told me it was okay,” he admitted, remembering the incident earlier. He left out the part where Minseok told him he was the same. It wasn’t his secret to tell. “Sorry about earlier. I was just… You- you wouldn’t want anyone to find your sex toy either!”_

_Baekhyun laughed loudly, clutching onto his stomach. Chanyeol frowned at him, wondering what was so funny. Baekhyun wiped a tear away, trying to catch his breath. “Sorry, that cracked me up. I can’t relate. You won’t find a sex toy in this house.”_

_“Sorry we aren’t all getting laid,” Chanyeol grumbled childishly. Baekhyun leaned in closer to Chanyeol, lips nearly touching him. “If it makes you feel better,” Baekhyun purred into his ear, “you’re very attractive. You just need to let loose. Anyone would kill to have you to themselves.”_

_Chanyeol shuddered a little just then. Baekhyun was definitely out of it._

“Stop thinking about that,” he mumbles to himself, turning the water off. He grabs Baekhyun’s shampoo because he didn’t bring any with him and feels bad for a moment, but then he remembers that Baekhyun _did_ ask Chanyeol to make himself at home. It smells like Baekhyun. He tries to fight the blush that’s creeping up his cheeks. Him smelling like Baekhyun? An absolute dream.

Chanyeol never expected to be friends with Baekhyun, and he never expected himself to actually start liking the guy either. Since high school, Chanyeol was always watching him from afar. Byun Baekhyun was untouchable, completely out of his league, a dream. When Minseok officially introduced them, he thought he could finally be friends with the elusive Baekhyun, but just like after that one gaming session they had together, they never spoke to each other again unless Minseok was around.

It wasn’t because of bad blood. Chanyeol just didn’t have any common ground with Baekhyun. They had nothing that would’ve bonded them. Maybe if Chanyeol had tried a little harder then, they would’ve been closer to each other now.

He isn’t sure when he started liking Baekhyun, but he knows his feelings slowly became more apparent when they started to talk to each other. He just wishes they were close before Baekhyun left Korea — nearly a year without seeing him in person was torture for his poor heart. His decision to come to America isn’t an impulsive one like Minseok believes it to be, but Baekhyun has always been one of the reasons he wanted to be here. A break from life is what he needs.

He sighs as he washes himself clean. He needs to have a talk with Jongdae about this. Towelling himself dry, he sits on the toilet seat and stares into nothingness. _Why do feelings have to be so frustrating,_ Chanyeol muses. He brushes his teeth quickly and checks the time, sending a text to Jongdae.

 

 _You  
_ Hey, can we meet later?   _10:11_

 _Jongdae_  
_10:11_   i kinda expected this  
_10:12_   time? bring kiki then  
_10:12_   we can go to a pet friendly cafe

 _You_  
Okay  _10:13  
_ 2 at the park?  _10:13_

 _Jongdae_  
_10:14_   i wanted to stay home today  
_10:14_   but i will leave the house for u  
_10:14_   see u (˵¯͒〰¯͒˵)

 _You_  
Thank u jongdae the great   _10:15_

 

He decides to do a short stream before meeting Jongdae, because he hasn't been able to stream since he left Korea. His viewers know that, of course, but it would be nice to surprise them. He doesn’t know if a lot of them are online at all, but he figures that he has viewers overseas too so his Korean fans will just have to miss this one. He pulls a blanket over Baekhyun and gives in to his body as he strokes Baekhyun’s hair, sitting on the armrest of the couch. And when Baekhyun’s eyelashes flutter, he hurriedly retreats to his room.

Chanyeol regrets his decision nearly as soon as he starts the stream. Turns out, there are _a lot_ of people online at this hour and they are all caught up with his social media. Which means all they’ve been asking in chat is:

  1. How are you able to stream?
  2. On a scale of 1 to 10 how close are you to baekkaji? We thought the two of you were only duo partners.
  3. Was that you on baekkaji’s stream? It sounded and looked like you.



And after 2 hours, he gives up on trying to ignore the comments. Chanyeol sighs inwardly as he scrolls through the chat. He never expected people to make such a big fuss out of this. Everyone knows he and Baekhyun play Overwatch together, but today he finds out that not everyone knows that they’re friends even outside of the game.

“I’m staying at a friend’s house at the moment, so I thought I’d surprise you guys with a stream, but it seems that everyone is more interested in baekkaji,” Chanyeol sulks, exiting Overwatch. “I went to watch Dynasty’s match against Excelsior, and I met Baek and his team there. We _are_ pretty good friends outside of gaming, you know.”

The chat goes wild and Chanyeol wants to die from embarrassment. He can make out a few English comments here and there and they are very… aggressively nice, if that’s even a thing. The fans seem very happy with the “information” he gave them, and he doesn’t know what to think of that. There’s a knock on his door and before he can react, Baekhyun enters. He quickly turns around and stands up, the headset falling off his head.

“Afternoon, ‘yeol,” Baekhyun yawns, blinking rapidly. His shirt is falling off his shoulder and his hair is a mess, but Chanyeol thinks he looks extremely tempting like this. Kiki enters the room along with him, her paws silent on the wooden floor, and Chanyeol can feel his cheeks turning pink. He doesn’t have to look at the chat to know what everyone is saying.

“G-good afternoon,” he stutters, blocking Baekhyun from his face cam. Baekhyun notices, and walks towards his set up. Chanyeol really wants this side of Baekhyun all to himself. Before Baekhyun reaches his set-up, Chanyeol hastily pulls his shirt back up for him, sighing.

“Hey, you’re streaming! I mean, I knew that. But there’s a League match going on right now which means I can’t stream,” Baekhyun pouts, sitting in Chanyeol’s seat. “So I’m here to hijack yours. Hi, bambi’s stream! I’m baekkaji, it’s nice to meet you guys,” he exclaims happily, and Chanyeol wants to just disappear.

 

 **Lolusername2  
** wtf am i seeing

 **Bambi_FAN  
** A “friend”, huh?

 **Iwillbeurshield  
** Is this real life?????

 

“Ah, yes, Chanyeolie’s living with me at the moment,” Baekhyun replies to the messages. The chat is moving fast and Chanyeol knows that they’re all coming up with new questions for Baekhyun to answer. He needs to do something, but he’s too enchanted by Baekhyun to move. “What? Yeah, we’re really close! But he didn’t tell me he was coming to America, you know.”

Chanyeol can only stand in the background and tell himself to snap out of it. He stomps towards Baekhyun, whirls his chair around and bends down to meet his eye. “Stop corrupting my viewers, get out,” he demands childishly, bottom lip jutting out a little.

“Is this how you treat your benefactor? And here I thought we had something special after last night,” Baekhyun fake sobs loudly, and Chanyeol is even more embarrassed than before. He knows his face is fucking red. He looks towards the screen and shouts, “nothing happened last night, we just talked like normal friends, I’m ending the stream now, bye!”

 

 **boomboom04  
** wow, baekkaji is rly different  
when he’s not on his stream

 **Alexuwu  
** i bet $50 they’re boning.

 **burgerflipprOW  
** Lol they seem like they are  
trying to hide something

 

“I didn’t want anyone to know I’m living with you, and now over three thousand people know and soon it’ll be all over social media,” Chanyeol rants as he sits himself down in the living room with Baekhyun, but Baekhyun only stares at him.

“Would it kill to have people know we live together? Are you embarrassed of me or something?” Baekhyun shoots back, genuinely confused and hurt by Chanyeol’s words. Chanyeol is quick to shake his head no.

“You know that’s not what I mean… I don’t want people to think I’m leeching off you. You’re a bigger personality than I am and besides playing Overwatch together, I don’t think anyone else knows we’re friends,” Chanyeol points out, “but well, they know now.”

“Why do you worry so much about what people think of you?” Baekhyun asks softly, eyes downcast. “Why do you always hold back just because you’re afraid word might go around? It’s not like you killed someone.”

“It’s not just about caring what people think of me. It’s also about keeping my life as private as I can. As streamers, we don’t have the luxury of privacy and everyone is using each other to climb up the social ladder… I don’t want to be one of them,” Chanyeol replies, lying on the couch. “I’m not like you. I _treasure_ privacy. My viewers don’t know much about me because I rarely say or post anything about my life. Your viewers know _everything_ about you. Your favourite dish, your birthday, your sexual orientation — mind you, you’re the only openly gay player in Overwatch League. You’re quiet on stream, but you share everything with your audience. I’m loud, but that’s for show. Nothing but gibberish comes out of my mouth when I stream, you should know that.”

Baekhyun stays silent, twiddling his thumbs. Kiki jumps off his lap and he feels empty. “I’m sorry. I’ll be more considerate of your feelings for now on. There’s a lot I don’t know about you,” he finally says, and Chanyeol feels guilty because Baekhyun is suddenly speaking formally.

“There’s not a lot I know about you either,” Chanyeol retorts, annoyed. But why does he feel so guilty?

“I mean… it’s okay if people know… I just need to get used to people knowing things about me,” he quickly adds, but Baekhyun’s sombre expression doesn’t falter and it tugs at his heart. _Say something,_ his conscience urges, but Chanyeol doesn’t know what to say or do. “I’m just… I’m meeting Jongdae in a bit. I’ll get groceries then, just send me a list of stuff you need.”

“Jongdae’s your best friend now isn’t he? He knows so much about you that I don’t, doesn’t he?” Baekhyun scowls, suddenly feeling overly jealous for some reason. _Who am I jealous of? Jongdae? Chanyeol? Both?_

“I honestly don’t want to deal with this right now Baek, can we not fight?” Chanyeol says tiredly, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. His heart is telling him not to walk away and instead figure out what’s eating at Baekhyun, but his mind says otherwise. He puts the harness on Kiki and takes her along with him, leaving Baekhyun alone in the living hall. Grabbing his stuff, he leashes Kiki and says bye to Baekhyun, who doesn’t respond.

 

+

 

“How are you?” Jongdae asks when he meets Chanyeol. Chanyeol briefly hugs him in response, sighing. “As good as I can be, I guess. You?”

“Same old,” he answers, taking the leash from Chanyeol’s hold and leading him to the cafe. “How’s Baekhyun? Still stupidly unaware?”

“Well, I can’t blame him for not being able to read me so easily. It’s already been six months since we started talking, but I still can’t bring myself to open up more around him,” Chanyeol laments, kicking the ground as he walks. “How does one bring themselves to confess a nearly five year old crush?”

“...Yeah, he’s gonna think of you as a creep,” Jongdae replies, laughing. They reach the cafe pretty quickly and take their seats.

“Hey, what did you say to Baekhyun yesterday?” Chanyeol asks out of curiosity. “Before I left the house, he said something about you knowing more about me than he does.”

“Ah, that…” Jongdae mumbles sheepishly. “I kinda let out that we are actually closer than he thinks we are…?”

Chanyeol moans in frustration, running his hands down his face. “The only reason why I don’t tell him things is because everything I tell you is _about_ that idiot! How the hell do I tell him that now?”

“Hey, can you order something before scolding me because I’m really fucking hungry,” Jongdae quickly reminds Chanyeol, who is gripping onto the menu a bit too tightly.

“I’ll just have whatever you’re having,” he grumbles, tapping his fingers on the table. “I hate feeling like this. I _know_ what a flirt he is and I _know_ how he feels towards relationships but I can’t help but want to be an exception.”

“If it makes you feel better, he stopped looking for one-night stands after the two of you got closer. Says he feels bad but we all know he’s just saving the little innocence he has left for you,” Jongdae reveals, and Chanyeol laughs bitterly.

“I’m _sure_ that’s the case,” he replies sarcastically. “We’re two worlds apart. He’s outgoing and I prefer to keep to myself. He has so many friends and I literally only have three. He’s basically a celebrity and I’m not. Everyone knows everything about him and I’m honestly so mad about that because there’s nothing I can hold onto that will make me feel special. There’s nothing that sets me apart from his fans. I know just as much as they do.”

Jongdae studies him for a moment before speaking up. “Care to tell me what happened?”

“I’ll keep it short. I was streaming and he entered my room and started answering questions my viewers were asking me when I was trying _not_ to answer those questions. Not that he knows that, but I talked to him after and basically said something like ‘just because you don’t value your privacy doesn’t mean I don’t value mine’,” Chanyeol recalls, suddenly feeling a twinge of guilt. “It didn’t come out that way, but it sure felt like it did. And then he started speaking very formally towards me."

“...Baekhyun doesn’t do that because he doesn’t care about his privacy,” Jongdae starts, “he does that _because_ he cares.”

“I hope you know that you’re not making much sense right now,” Chanyeol muses, blowing on his food that just arrived.

Jongdae shakes his head at Chanyeol, as if he were a father talking sense into his child. “He doesn’t want people digging up things about his life, so he offers trivial info about himself instead. It’s not like he shares his life story with his viewers. So they know his birthday. So they know he used to have a pet dog. So they know his favourite dish. So they know he’s gay. So what?”

“Those are just to keep them away from knowing anything else about him,” Jongdae continues, completely ignoring his own food. “He lives in his own apartment instead of the dorms because he doesn’t want the team to know too much about his life. He doesn’t want them to know who he’s talking to or who he’s going out with. He treasures his privacy as much as you do — as much as any of us do. We’re only human. The only difference is that we’re more popular than you are,” Jongdae jokes.

Chanyeol finds himself staring at his food longer than he wants to. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t, no one told you,” Jongdae says gently. “Baekhyun tends to keep to himself a lot, actually. It took him forever to warm up to me, it’s only natural that he takes his time to open up to you too. Although, I’d say he didn’t take very long to. The last time I saw him this invested in someone was back in Korea. If you really think his fans knows as much as you do, you’re crazy.”

Chanyeol perks up, pausing. “Korea? You mean during Apex? And yeah… I said that in the heat of the moment but I know Baekhyun and I are closer than I’ve always thought we were. Maybe I felt that way because we only just met each other in person again after so long. It didn’t feel as… _intimate_ while we were just texting and face-timing.”

“Oh, the cons of long-distance relationships,” Jongdae mocks, putting a hand to his heart. “And, no not Apex; not that recent,” Jongdae laughs. “Wait, I didn’t tell you? I’ve known him since we were kids.”

Chanyeol balks at that statement. “No way.”

“Sorry, I thought you knew. We were neighbours up till high school, but then my family moved. We still met up every now and then, though. Apex only brought us closer together — not like we weren’t already close in the first place. Anyway, Baekhyun was always a pretty quiet kid. Come on, ask me anything about him. I’ll tell you,” Jongdae promises, waggling his eyebrows as he tries to steal a bit of Chanyeol’s food. Chanyeol playfully swats his hand away.

“No thanks. I’d ask him myself if I wanted to know anything else. But… you said the last time you saw him this ‘invested’ in someone was in Korea?” Chanyeol repeats, interested in what Jongdae meant.

“Oh yeah, his mom,” Jongdae replies. “He loves her to bits. I’m sure Baekhyun has told you about his family.” Chanyeol nods his head. Baekhyun’s dad passed away when he was a young child, so he never really knew what it’s like to have a father. His mom is basically two parents in one. He’s an only child too, so Chanyeol sees how he could’ve been lonely.

“Did you think I meant someone he liked romantically?” Jongdae teases.

“Anyone would’ve been mistaken,” Chanyeol snorts, sipping on his drink. Jongdae rests his cheek on his palm, studying Chanyeol.

“Baekhyun’s life is pretty normal. He doesn’t have any tragic past relationships that makes him stay away from them, if that’s what you’re wondering. He’s probably liked a fair share of people himself, but he’s never even been in a relationship,” Jongdae reveals quietly. “He thinks they’re a waste of time. But maybe you can change that!” he adds merrily, clasping his hands together.

“You say that as if I stand a chance,” Chanyeol says softly.

“You never know. Honestly, I don’t know either, but I have faith that the two of you will make it somehow,” Jongdae insists. “I know it sounds fucking cliché, but Baekhyun hasn’t been the same since the two of you became friends.”

“But he always says I’m like that little brother he never had, I’m basically family to him,” Chanyeol whines. “I don’t know. He seemed pretty out of it when I left today. Didn’t even say bye to me, and I told him to send a list of groceries he needs and-” Chanyeol unlocks his phone- “he hasn’t even said a word!” He shoves his phone into Jongdae’s face. “Look!”

Jongdae snatches the phone from his grasp, sending a text to Baekhyun and returning it back to Chanyeol, who nearly screams. “Are you _insane?_ What do you expect him to say? Oh my god, this is embarrassing,” Chanyeol wails, covering his face with his hands.

“It’s not that bad,” Jongdae shrugs.

“Yeah, because aegyo is _completely_ normal. _‘Hyung~ don’t be mad at me~~ I’ll do anything for you~~’_ is fucking normal. Jongdae!” Chanyeol imitates the text in a high pitched voice, and Jongdae only bursts out laughing.

“Relax, it’s not like Baekhyun wouldn’t know you didn’t send it. He knows you’re with me, he definitely knows I sent that,” Jongdae coaxes, and his phone pings. “Well, there we go.”

 

 _Faline  
__14:41_   I am going to kill you 

 _You  
_ just kiss and make up already  _14:41_  

 _Faline_  
_14:43_   Where are you guys  
_14:43_   How's bambi

 _You_  
why, wanna come and sweep  
bambi off his feet??  _14:43_

 _Faline  
__14:44_   ...nevermind

 _You_  
you were thinking of it, weren't you lol   _14:45_  
poor, poor faline  _14:46_  
bambi is fine.  _14:46_  
it's not like he's crying or anything,  
he just doesn't understand you   _14:46  
_

_Faline_  
_14:46_   FALINE IS A GIRL  
_14:46_   I see

 _You_  
faline is also bambi’s mate  _14:46_  
it’s very fitting (ゝ∀･)   _14:47_

  _Faline_  
For someone who doesn’t want  
_14:47_   me w him  
_14:47_   You sure tease us a lot

 _You_  
I just don’t want u to hurt bambi  _14:48_  
and I trust that you won’t.   _14:48_

 _Faline_  
_14:49_   I see.

 

“What did he say?” Chanyeol asks, huffing. Jongdae keeps smiling at his phone and Chanyeol is dying to find out what Baekhyun texted him.

“Oh, nothing,” Jongdae replies, smirking. “Come on, finish up your food so we can continue talking. We can get your groceries afterwards too.”

“I’m so full,” Chanyeol whines. “Let’s just go already.”

“All right. Let me just get Kiki home then we can go to the supermarket,” Jongdae says as he stands up. Chanyeol remains seated, pouting at the Samoyed, who tilts her head in response.

“Can’t believe we have to part so soon,” Chanyeol sniffs, bending a little to pat her head. “Goodbye baby girl,” he says, letting her lick his fingers once more.

“It’s not like she’s dying, dude. Come visit her anytime,” Jongdae offers. “You can wait here. I’ll get the check and come back.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol replies, looking at his phone. Still no text from Baekhyun. He sighs to himself, poking at the unfinished food. _Has Baekhyun eaten at all? What is he doing? How is he feeling?_

 

 _You_  
If you don’t reply, I’m putting  
cucumbers in your meal tonight.  _15:00_  
I’ll blend them so fine and mix it  
with ur rice  _15:00_

 _B_  
_15:01_   Kimchi  
_15:01_   Just get me some kimchi. Thanks

 _You_  
Okay.  _15:02_

 

Jongdae comes back in 15 minutes and brings Chanyeol to the supermarket nearby. “They don’t have a lot of premium stuff here, but it’s decent enough to have a good meal,” Jongdae informs him, and Chanyeol just laughs.

“I don’t really care for quality much,” he replies. Jongdae nods his head in understanding. They walk along the snacks aisle, Chanyeol pushing the shopping cart as he picks out random snacks to try.

“Why do you like Baekhyun so much?” Jongdae asks, and Chanyeol hums.

“I don’t… know?” Chanyeol hesitates. “At first, he was just a streamer I watched and admired. But when I found out that the Baekhyun in my school was baekkaji, I started becoming curious and I became even more interested in him. He always hung out with my friends so I could sort of tell what kind of person he was too, and honestly, he was so perfect,” he laughs shyly.

“It’s not like anything happened that made me like him. I just… gradually fell for him,” Chanyeol confesses. “And when we started talking, I felt like some fanboy who was noticed by his idol, you know? Even though we’re practically on the same level. And I came to realise that Baekhyun is so much more than what I knew him as. So much better, even.”

“Woah there, okay, you’re getting really cheesy there,” Jongdae steps in, smiling.  “Hey, I never got to ask, but how long are you planning to stay?”

Chanyeol looks at Jongdae and points to himself. “Me? Maybe a month? I don’t know. I got a one-way ticket,” he reveals, and Jongdae’s jaw drops.

“You’re insane, I tell you,” Jongdae groans. “Oh, try this, it’s good,” he tosses an item into Chanyeol’s cart.

“Thanks. And well, it’s not like I can’t afford it. My parents are pretty well to do and I’ve saved up _a lot_ from working part-time before and streaming. Plus ad revenue from YouTube… I’d say I’m doing pretty well,” Chanyeol explains.

“Why the hell are you staying here for _a month?_ ”

“Just needed to get away from Korea for a bit. I’ve lived there my entire life and never once left the country and it was beginning to feel stuffy. And I may or may not have fallen out with Minseok,” Chanyeol says, scratching his head. “And also because Baekhyun was always whining about how he wished we could meet and stuff… ugh, the list of reasons is never-ending.”

“What happened to not wanting to leave Korea?” Jongdae teases. “You and Minseok fell out? Hyung never told me that. That’s huge, considering how close the two of you are.”

“It’s nothing. We’ll be fine in a couple of days,” Chanyeol answers tersely. He doesn’t want Jongdae to know that Baekhyun’s the reason for their fall out. It’s funny because Minseok was the one who tried to bring them together when they were in Korea, but now he’s the one trying to pulling them apart. Chanyeol knows for a fact that Minseok was the one who told Baekhyun about his channel. So why now…?

“Whatever it is, I hope the both of you resolve it soon. Minseok-hyung must be miserable,” Jongdae guesses.

“He’ll get over it,” Chanyeol mutters. “Enough about me. How are you and your girlfriend doing?”

 

+

 

Chanyeol ends up hanging out with Jongdae till the sky starts to fade to orange. When he reaches home, he puts the bags down on the floor and sends a quick text to Jongdae, thanking him for their catch up session, to which Jongdae says, _‘just make up with faline already’._ He is confused, but Jongdae follows up with a _‘sorry, *baekhyun’_.

Chanyeol rings the doorbell and waits. Baekhyun opens the door seconds later, looking like he just woke up from a nap. Chanyeol rolls his eyes, picking the bags off the floor and dragging them into the house. “It seems like all you ever do is sleep,” Chanyeol mutters. Baekhyun ignores him, but helps to keep the groceries where they belong.

“Are you just going to avoid talking to me?” Chanyeol points out, and Baekhyun nods his head, puffing his cheeks like a child. _Cute,_ Chanyeol thinks, but he’s also pretty annoyed at this point. He unintentionally slams the cucumbers on the table, and it startles Baekhyun.

“Get those away from me,” Baekhyun blurts out, backing up against the kitchen table.

“Oh, so he speaks,” Chanyeol taunts. “Those are for me, not you. You hate them but I love them.”

Baekhyun stays where he is and doesn’t reply, making Chanyeol sigh. “Look, I’m sorry about what I said earlier. I spoke to Jongdae and it was kinda an eye opener. I shouldn’t have said it, I’m sorry.”

“Do you like _like_ Jongdae?” Baekhyun asks, looking at Chanyeol.

“What? No!” Chanyeol exclaims, shocked that Baekhyun would think that. _I only have eyes for you, idiot._

“Mm… okay. What’s for dinner? I slept through lunch, I’m so hungry,” Baekhyun whines, and Chanyeol is in disbelief. “Really? You’re just gonna ask what’s for dinner?” he challenges.

“What do you want me to say then? That it hurts when you paint me as such a transparent person, that I envy the friendship you and Jongdae have?” _That I can feel my heart getting too attached to you?_ Baekhyun sighs.

“Just forget it. What’s done is done, we just have to get over it now. It’s not like I’m gonna hate you after what you said. You gotta try harder for that to happen,” Baekhyun quips, trying to lighten the mood. “It’s also kinda my fault for not opening up more.”

“Yeah, that’s something we _both_ need to work on,” Chanyeol murmurs, looking down at his feet for a second. “Look, I’m sorry if I’m getting too close to Jongdae. He’s just… someone I go to for advice on some stuff. He’ll always be _your_ best friend, I wouldn’t want to get in the way of that.”

Baekhyun wants to tell him that’s not what he’s worried about, but the words die on the tip of his tongue. The both of them are silent, neither of them knowing what to say. Chanyeol makes the first move, walking towards Baekhyun and pulls him into his embrace.

“Let’s not fight anymore,” he mumbles into Baekhyun’s shoulder. Even though this is literally the first time they’ve ‘fought’, Chanyeol knows his heart won’t be able to take it. Baekhyun’s arms move to wrap around his waist, and Chanyeol can feel him nod his head. Baekhyun pulls away and looks at him for a little too long, and Chanyeol blushes, looking away. But Baekhyun only stares intently at him, and Chanyeol swears his eyes dart down to his lips for a second. His heart is beating wildly and he wills for it to quieten down.

 _No way,_ Chanyeol thinks to himself. _No fucking way he’s about to kiss me._ Baekhyun is slowly inching closer, lips parted, and Chanyeol knows what’s about to come. He stumbles back a little, releasing Baekhyun and chuckling nervously. “I uh, I always hug my mum after a fight so I uh, instinct…” he trails off, eyes not meeting Baekhyun’s. Baekhyun clears his throat, backing away too.

“That’s okay,” Baekhyun smiles, but his lips are wobbling. “Maybe we should fight more often so you would hug me more,” he teases. He’s smiling, but Chanyeol finds it hard to read his expression and he’s starting to think that maybe, he doesn’t understand Baekhyun at all.

“We can hug any time, you know,” Chanyeol says. He turns around to continue sorting the groceries and inaudibly sighs. He wants Baekhyun to kiss him, but… he doesn’t. He doesn’t want to be one of Baekhyun’s flings. He wants the kiss to mean more than that, but the way Baekhyun looked at him earlier just made him feel like a piece of meat waiting to be devoured. Baekhyun could find him attractive but he still wouldn’t give in to his temptations.

He doesn’t want to be one of Baekhyun’s many play things.

He wants to be the only one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember that Minseok used to be dynasty's team leader~ what happens next~ I wonder~~~~
> 
> I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter, comments and kudos are appreciated! I tend not to reply to comments on ao3 (I do on aff lol) because that counts as another comment and it low-key annoys me (that that happens) but I do read all the comments ^^


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brigitte & hanzo: characters in the game  
> Meta: sort of like a strategy  
> Support: a role in the game  
> Getting steam-rolled: EFFORTLESSLY ANNIHILATED
> 
> beta'd. I think.

The next few days are nothing but a blur. Baekhyun is busy with preparations for their next match, and Chanyeol has nothing to do but explore the city by himself. He knows Baekhyun is disappointed by the fact that they didn’t win their last stage, but he kinda worries for the guy. By the time Baekhyun comes back at night, Chanyeol is fast asleep, and by the time Chanyeol wakes up, Baekhyun is gone for scrims.

After the first two days of it happening, Chanyeol realises that things are going to be hectic as hell for Baekhyun. He starts to make an extra portion of dinner every night, leaving them in the microwave and texting Baekhyun to let him know. The replies are never instantaneous but when they come, Chanyeol finds himself smiling at them more than a normal person would.

Today, Chanyeol decides to make lunch for Baekhyun too. He prepares it along with dinner and leaves it in the fridge, pasting a little note on the fridge to let Baekhyun know there’s food for him. Satisfied, he logs on to his computer and goes to buy a ticket for Baekhyun’s next match.

 

+

 

“Let’s take a break,” Baekhyun yawns, stretching in his seat. “That was a good scrim.” 

“Hyung, Brigitte will be playable in the next stage and that really isn’t good news for us,” Sehun says worriedly. “Plus the Hanzo changes… Oh. _Oh._ Our match on Friday is the first match of stage 2.”

Baekhyun sighs. “We’ll figure it out,” he replies, even though he knows that it’s hard with his team where everyone specialises in a particular hero or two. The introduction of a new hero meant a change in the meta — the meta that Dynasty was the best in. It doesn’t help that the new hero, Brigitte, is yet another support, because the team only has two support players and Baekhyun foresees that the team composition would need 3 supports — that is, including the new hero. With this new meta, it means someone has to learn to play Brigitte and unfortunately, that someone is him. 

“Sehun and Jongdae can’t play support,” he mumbles to himself, deep in thought, “but Sehun can fill my tank role so I’ll play Brigitte…”

“Hyung. Hyung,” Sehun calls, startling him.

“Sorry, I was thinking. What’s up?” Baekhyun answers, putting his keyboard aside to make space for his belongings.

“Lunch?” Sehun asks, and Baekhyun shakes his head, smiling. “I brought food today,” he says, reaching into his bag and pulling out his lunch box. Sehun looks surprised and he quirks an eyebrow.

“Interesting. Well then, we’ll see you later,” Sehun waves, leaving with the rest of the team. His coaches stay back with him, but they’re busy with their own things. He fetches his notebook and reading glasses and makes notes on the new changes.

Munching on the _gimbap_ Chanyeol prepared for him, he steals a quick glance at his handphone, deflating when it doesn’t have any new notifications from a certain someone. “I’m so bored,” he grumbles to himself, going back to making notes.

Crossing his legs and biting his lip in concentration, he draws out a couple of team compositions that may benefit his team. He gobbles the food up pretty fast, moaning sadly when he realises he only has one piece left. He’s distracted by the sound of a camera shutter going off, and he looks up to see Jongdae taking photos of him with his phone.

“I thought you left with the others,” he states, and Jongdae shakes his head, camera clicking away. “I stayed back because I have food with me,” he replies, and Baekhyun sees a container in his other hand.

“Girlfriend?” Baekhyun points with his chin, and Jongdae snorts. “You know she can’t make anything other than instant noodles. It’s Chanyeol,” he answers, and for some reason, that strikes a nerve.

“I have one too,” Baekhyun mumbles, chewing angrily on his food. Jongdae walks towards him and goes closer, taking even more photos, but this time with the shutter sound off. Baekhyun gently slaps his hand away.

“Aww, is someone jealous?” Jongdae teases, grinning. Baekhyun stifles a yawn and rubs his eyes. The lack of sleep is getting to him. Jongdae notices and frowns at him.

“You should get more rest, you know,” Jongdae suggests. It is more of a demand than a suggestion, but Baekhyun pays no attention to him. “We don’t have much time. We’re lagging behind compared to the other teams. I can’t believe we still haven’t figured this out yet, even though Brigitte has already been out for a month.”

Jongdae sighs heavily and sits next to Baekhyun. He stuffs the last _gimbap_ into Baekhyun’s mouth, and shuts the container. Baekhyun looks at him like he’s gone mad, but Jongdae doesn’t care and proceeds to take the reading glasses off his face and the pen out of his grasp.

“Sleep,” Jongdae demands. “You look like complete shit and you can’t think straight like this. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you leaving later than the rest of us just to do this. You’re not our coach, nor our analyst. I know you think you need to do this, but your health is more important, Baek. Everything is gonna be fine.”

“You _think_ it’s going to be fine but it isn’t. I’ve seen the way the other teams play — they’re aggressive and quick. They _know_ how to utilise the new changes to their advantage and they adapt fast. Why are we not the same? How are we not doing what every other team can? We’re going down the ranks, Dae, can’t you see? We’re no longer invincible! I’m so sick and tired of losing game after game and reading disappointed comments from fans about how ‘Lunatic Hai has lost their touch’, ” Baekhyun snaps angrily, frowning at Jongdae.

“But the thing is that we aren’t LH anymore, Baek. Half the team has already been switched out,” Jongdae says gently. “You need to stop thinking so much about the fans. Some of them don’t make sense and you should stop letting them get to you. And I know we’re not doing very well — we all know that — but we’re trying. That’s also why coach is planning to get someone else on our roster, remember?”

Baekhyun nods hesitantly, looking away. He’s frustrated and he can feel the tears prickling his eyes, but he doesn’t want to show any sign of weakness, especially not in front of a teammate. Jongdae turns him around, and looks him in the eye. “Breathe, Baekhyun. Breathe.”

Baekhyun exhales deeply and closes his eyes, thankful for Jongdae by his side. He knows himself and he’s terrible at dealing with his emotions, but Jongdae has always been there for him and calming him down. “That’s good,” Jongdae encourages, “now try to get some rest before the others get back. Everything is going to be _fine._ ”

Baekhyun rests his head on the table and closes his eyes once more, dozing off. Jongdae steals a glance at his notes, smiling at the amount of effort Baekhyun put into it. He stealthily takes a few more photos of Baekhyun sleeping and leans back in his seat, scrolling through the photos. He selects a couple from earlier when Baekhyun was unaware and posts them to the team’s Instagram, stifling a laugh.

 _“Our Baekhyunnie hard at work~,”_ the caption reads, and Jongdae rolls his eyes at the sheer amount of comments complimenting Baekhyun’s looks. He sends the photos of a sleeping Baekhyun to Chanyeol and smiles.

 

 _You  
_ _ <3 images attached>   _ _14:02_

 _Park Bambi  
_ _14:03_ Cute.

You  
packed lunch, eh?   _14:03  
_ I thought I was special (｡•́︿•̀｡)   _14:03_

 _Park Bambi_  
_14:04_  I don’t want him to overthink it  
_14:04_  It’s just a nice gesture  
_14:04_    He’s been coming home pretty late  
_14:04_    Is he okay?

 _You  
_ we’ll take care of him :)   _14:05_  

 _Park Bambi  
_ _14:05_    I don’t trust that smiley face >:(

 _You  
_ are you coming for the match on Friday??   _14:06_

 _Park Bambi  
_ _14:06_   Wouldn’t miss it for the world.

 

+

 

“You’re home early today,” Chanyeol greets, surprised. He sits up straighter on the couch and puts down the book he’s reading. Baekhyun kicks off his shoes as he enters the apartment, yawning.

“Couldn’t stay,” Baekhyun mutters, putting his bedroom slippers on as he shuffles towards Chanyeol. The coach sent everyone home at 5pm, giving Baekhyun a pointed look that said _you better get your ass home now_ and Baekhyun couldn’t defy his order.

He lets himself fall onto the couch, resting his head on Chanyeol’s lap. “I’m tired,” he mumbles sleepily, closing his eyes and letting an arm fall over his face. Over the course of two weeks, the both of them have become even closer without even trying. Baekhyun has always been a naturally clingy person and Chanyeol has always been naturally giving, so they fell into routine pretty quickly. Hugs are a normal occurrence, and so is leaning against each other, like now. 

Chanyeol gently runs his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair before realising what he’s doing. That definitely isn’t part of their… routine. As he retracts his fingers, he prays that Baekhyun doesn’t think much of it and ignores it, but Baekhyun grabs his hand and makes him continue. Chanyeol sighs to himself, cheeks turning pink. Why does Baekhyun do things like this and expect him to be completely unaffected?

“I was just about to make dinner. Are you craving anything?” He asks, heart hammering in his chest. _Baekhyun wants me to coddle him. Baekhyun wants this._ _Baekhyun._

“Whatever you want is fine,” Baekhyun replies, lips curling into a small smile. Baekhyun isn’t even looking at him, but Chanyeol can feel his heart racing because Baekhyun is smiling. He shakes his head at himself and leans back, sighing quietly.

He likes being like this with Baekhyun, but he wishes it was under different circumstances. Preferably as boyfriends, but he’ll take what he can get. Being close to Baekhyun is all he needs, but when he acts like this around him, Chanyeol can’t help but feel like he’s being used, even though he likes it. “Are you tired?” Baekhyun asks, peeking at him.

“Ah, no. Just bored,” Chanyeol says, looking away. How is he supposed to suppress his feelings when Baekhyun treats him like this? “I wanted to stream, but I’m here on vacation, so I shouldn’t stream so often. Otherwise it’ll just be like life in Korea.”

“I wish I could bring you out, but my next few days are gonna be pretty crazy. We could go out this Sunday, if you want,” Baekhyun suggests, but Chanyeol disagrees.

“I’m already staying at your home, making you my tour guide would be asking for too much,” Chanyeol declines, and Baekhyun chuckles. “Just think of it as two friends going out, then. 

“We’ll see what time you wake up on Sunday,” Chanyeol hums. “Anyway, get up. I have to make dinner.”

“Tired,” Baekhyun pouts, curling into a fetal position and gripping onto Chanyeol’s shirt. Never in a million years did Chanyeol expect Baekhyun to be so physically clingy, but thinking about it now, he sees how it’s possible. Baekhyun is clingy even in his messages.

Chanyeol gently pushes Baekhyun off his lap, patting himself down. “I’m just gonna make fried rice today.”

“Please add kimchi,” Baekhyun mumbles, closing his eyes.

 

+

 

Friday couldn’t come fast enough. Baekhyun is fretting over the match yet again and Jongdae is just laughing at him. “Don’t worry man. It’s Boston. Freakin _Boston._ We won’t lose,” Jongdae confidently says to him. Baekhyun has a bad feeling about it, but he doesn’t say a word.

While it’s true that they’ve never lost against Boston — they’ve never lost a _map,_ even — he knows the team has been doing extremely well with the introduction of the new hero. Thankfully, the changes to Hanzo aren’t playable in the stage after much consideration by the Overwatch League committee, so they have one less thing to worry about. A part of him has faith that they will win Boston by a landslide, but another part of him is anxious.

Baekhyun sighs loudly and slumps in his seat. He has an hour left till the match starts — this time, it’s an afternoon match so the team has already practiced in the morning. He’s still feeling tired from their scrim earlier on, but he doesn’t think much about the pain in his neck or his stiff back. 

Sehun offers him a massage, and he politely declines because he’s afraid he will doze off. He lazes around in the lounge along with a quiet Jongdae until it’s time for the match. 

When the match starts and Baekhyun realises that his team is actually doing pretty well, he relaxes a little, albeit still on guard. They win the first map with ease as it is the map that they are best at, and Boston was basically getting steam-rolled. The second map is a bit tougher, but they win by a close margin. But the third map is where they realise that always using the same strategy does not guarantee success.

“Baekhyun-hyung, maybe we need to switch off Brigitte,” Sehun says into his mic. “We’re not getting enough damage done.” 

“We’ll be fine. Let’s try one more push,” Baekhyun replies tersely. He knows that Sehun is right but he can’t bring himself to agree.

 _“Hyung,”_ Sehun presses, sounding annoyed. Baekhyun makes a sound of disapproval but switches anyway. It doesn’t get them far and they lose the map, much to Baekhyun’s dismay. It feels like the premonition from earlier on is actually true. The whole team is grumbling and the wheels in Baekhyun’s head are turning; Boston has caught up quickly and Baekhyun knows he is not confident enough in the new hero to just wing it, but he has to. 

Their team has always been known for well-executed plays and out of the box strategies. They’ve been hailed South Korea’s best team countless of times, and they even won the Overwatch World Cup in the last year — but everyone has been analysing their strengths and weaknesses since they made it into the spotlight, and now they’re just predictable. Baekhyun might have been the best tank in the past, but now, he’s not so sure. Everyone’s got him figured out. He was hoping this new meta would’ve done some good for them, but now he’s worried.

“Baekhyun. _Breathe,_ ” Jongdae reminds, and Baekhyun lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

“Are you okay?” Jongdae asks, and Baekhyun frantically nods his head. Jongdae turns to look at him and sighs. “We just have to win the next map. Let’s give it our best,” he says to team. “Relax, Baekhyun. We’ve only lost one map.”

 

When the match ends and Dynasty wins, Baekhyun is so happy he could cry. He shoots up from his seat and yells at Jongdae, who screams back at him as their team pats each other on the back. It’s weird that Baekhyun is rejoicing as if they’re won the entire league, but Jongdae understands as he hugs him back. 

“You did great,” Jongdae whispers into his ear, and Baekhyun grins at him as he pulls back, but there’s still an uneasy feeling in his chest. Something is telling him that it’s just the beginning and that he shouldn’t be too happy, and he can’t help but listen to the voice in his head. “Yeah… I guess,” Baekhyun mumbles, expression morphing into a slight frown. _You’ve only won one match, why the hell are you rejoicing,_ the voice cackles, and Baekhyun’s frown deepens. 

Jongdae doesn’t notice and they start wrapping up, shaking hands with the other team as they head back to the lounge. Chanyeol is waiting for him like the last time, but Baekhyun can’t stop the annoyance bubbling in his chest. “You didn’t tell me, _again,_ that you were coming,” he says, frowning. He knows he should be appreciative, but if he knew Chanyeol was coming, maybe, _just_ maybe… he might have performed better. He didn’t even realise Chanyeol was in the crowd this time around. 

“Thought I’d surprise you again,” Chanyeol says good-naturedly, smiling at him. “You seem really stressed recently and I didn’t want to put any more pressure on you,” he adds cautiously.

Baekhyun’s expression softens, and he wants to tell Chanyeol that even though he doesn’t know why, Chanyeol’s presence motivates him — but he just sighs instead. _He was trying to be thoughtful,_ a voice in his head chides him. Baekhyun knows, but he can’t help the words tumbling out of his mouth. “Not everyone likes surprises,” he grumbles, and Chanyeol laughs, leaving Baekhyun stunned.

“If you don’t like it, I won’t do it again,” Chanyeol promises, and Baekhyun feels guilty. Who is he to take out his anger on Chanyeol? Underperforming is his problem, not anyone else’s. 

“I- Sorry. Just let me know next time, you surprise me enough with your antics,” Baekhyun replies, smiling a little. He notices a huge bag beside Chanyeol and perks up, curious. “What’s that?”

Chanyeol glances at what Baekhyun’s looking at. “Oh, this? I promised your team like 2 weeks ago that I’d share the snacks I brought from home, so here they finally are,” he says, beaming.

“Oh… I see. We won’t be heading to the team house today, though. But everyone is here so we could stay for awhile and head back home after,” Baekhyun suggests, and Chanyeol nods his head in agreement. 

When everyone gathers around excitedly, Chanyeol feels like a proud father who bought toys for his children. The coaches stand quietly at a corner and when Chanyeol locks eyes with one of them, they beckon to him. He looks around in question before pointing at himself and mouthing, _me?_ And the coaches nod. Together, they head outside the lounge, away from the team’s view.

The coaches, Chanyeol learns, are scouting for fresh, new candidates for Dynasty. “We aren’t planning to remove anyone from our current roster, but we feel that we _are_ short on supports and tanks,” one of the coaches says. “We’ve seen your gameplay. We think you have what it takes to play professionally. If you’re keen, perhaps we could talk about this over coffee?”

Chanyeol is taken aback by the sudden offer, and he stumbles over his words. “I… uh… me…?”

The other coach laughs and places a hand on Chanyeol’s shoulder. “Relax, you can think about it. Transfer season just started, so we have time to discuss. We know your concerns of homesickness, but rest assured that it won’t be a problem. That being said, if there’s anything else you’d like to know about a pro’s life, you could always ask your friends,” he says, pointing his chin in the direction of the team. “Or us.”

“We know you may think this is sudden, but ever since we saw you play that night at the team house, we realised that you may be a very valuable asset to our team. So we _may_ have analysed your streams. You’re good. We will most likely put you on the starting roster.” As they walk back to where the team is, Chanyeol thinks about how this would benefit him. It’s definitely something young Chanyeol dreamt about, but as he grew older, he felt like it was too idealistic of him. 

If he’s on the starting roster, that means someone has to be put in the Reserve, and that someone… could be a friend. He needs to consider that as well. He’s quiet as he studies Baekhyun from a distance, and a fleeting thought of them on the same team and stage passes his mind. “Thank you for your offer, but I’ll have to think about it,” Chanyeol finally says. They smile at him and say their farewells, and one of the coaches hands him their card.

“Um… I don’t really know how transfers work but if it’s possible, can you keep this from the team? I don’t want anyone influencing my decision, and I’m pretty easily swayed by friends…” Chanyeol trails off as he glances at Baekhyun, who doesn’t seem to notice his absence.

“That’s not a problem,” one of them says, and they make a move to leave. Baekhyun is saying something to Jongdae with a solemn expression, but Chanyeol doesn’t think much of it.

 

+

 

“So,” Baekhyun starts once they arrive home, “where did you go after leaving all the goodies with us?”

 Chanyeol is caught off-guard, and he fucking stutters. “I- I went to the t-toilet.” _Please tell me he didn’t see us, please tell me he didn’t see us, please tell-_

“Oh. Did you have a stomachache? You were away for a pretty long time,” Baekhyun asks worriedly. There’s something else in Baekhyun’s eyes that makes him seem cold, but Chanyeol tells himself that it’s nothing.

“Yeah, I must’ve ate something bad this morning, but I’m okay now,” Chanyeol mutters, and he feels bad for lying. “Hey, I’m going back into my room to stream. Wanna join?”

Baekhyun is surprised by the invitation, and he really wants to join Chanyeol, but he declines. “I thought you didn’t wanna stream here,” Baekhyun teases. “I have to work…” he’s about to finish his sentence but he’s rendered speechless when Chanyeol gives him the most adorable puppy eyes, and he lets out a deep sigh. _Damn you, Park Chanyeol._

Baekhyun wants to know why Chanyeol lied about being gone for so long. He knows what he saw — Chanyeol leaving and coming back with the coaches. Jongdae didn’t know what was going on either, and he was hoping that Chanyeol would tell any one of them, but he didn’t, and he supposes Chanyeol has his reasons for keeping it from him, so he doesn’t bring it up again. 

“One hour,” Baekhyun says sternly, and Chanyeol happily bounces back to his room with Baekhyun trailing behind.

 

Baekhyun considers tweeting about him appearing on Chanyeol’s stream as he is introduced by Chanyeol to his audience. He waves and smiles at the screen, and the chat is filling up really quickly by surprised fans. He doesn’t tweet about it, lest he gets into trouble with the Overwatch League office. “A match is on-going, so Baek isn’t able to stream at the moment,” Chanyeol explains to his viewers, “so we decided to play a multiplayer game instead to pass time.” 

As Chanyeol is finding a game, Baekhyun reads the comments to pass time. “Thank you all for the nice messages,” Baekhyun says gratefully as he does a little bow — a lot of his fans are congratulating him on their win earlier that day. “We will continue to do our best.” _What a lie,_ the voice in his head mocks, _have you really been trying at all? And here you are, playing some lame game instead of practicing…_ He sighs softly, annoyed at his thoughts.

 

 **sheepdogs  
** Play Portal 2 LUL

 **xqc-comment-bot  
** OOOO PLAY CUPHEAD

 **forniteisbetter  
** fortnite

 **trash-uwu  
** Fortnite isn’t local co-op u dumbass

 

Chanyeol notices a comment and perks up. “Oh yes, Cuphead sounds great! I know I have it in my collection somewhere,” he exclaims as he searches his library for it. He turns to Baekhyun for a moment, tilting his head. “Hey, do you have a controller? We’re playing Cuphead.”

Baekhyun hums, placing a finger to his chin. “I think I have one somewhere in the living room. My uncle used to have a console here but he left a controller and I never returned it because I’m too lazy. I’ll go find it.”

Chanyeol hums in reply and downloads the game. People are asking about their friendship, and Chanyeol sheepishly scratches the back of his neck. _I guess it won’t hurt to tell them…_ “Um, Baek and I knew each other in high school,” Chanyeol answers the one burning question they have. Everyone seems pleased with his answer, save for a couple of users who are curious to know more.

Baekhyun comes in minutes later with a controller in hand, grinning. The voices in his head are quiet.

 

+ 

 

 **she-torb braghetti (fan acc)** @highestnoon

8k viewers and an 8 hrs stream @bambiplays (with special guest @baekkaji) long stream + highest viewer count you’ve gotten ♥ poggers

_2:02 AM - 12 June 2018_

**23** Retweets **300** Likes  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> poggers is a twitch chat thing lol / she-torb braghetti is with reference to [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq6hK1Gi59s) I can't fuckin-
> 
> the next chapter will take a little longer because I'm actually working on another fic now and it's a present SO no more delays on that!!!! it's chankai uwu
> 
> edit (13 jun): a friend asked why B can't stream when another match is on-going. so basically there are 3 OWL matches in a day, and B's was the second, so when he got back home, another one had already started. OWL players are not allowed to stream when OWL is live b/c they want to rake in views lol. I don't think it's crucial to the plot so I'm putting it here~


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i hate myself. Sorry for the late update if anyone was waiting

Over the next couple of days, Baekhyun doesn’t have schedules, but he decides to practice anyway, holding unofficial scrims with his friends from the other teams. Chanyeol notices him packing and asks him what he’s doing. “Oh, uh… I’ll be staying at the dorms for about three days. Non-stop scrims.”

Chanyeol doesn’t seem pleased with his answer. He leans against Baekhyun’s open door, watching as he packs an overnight bag. “Don’t you think you should relax a little? What about the others?”

“The others are fine with the idea. I’m not forcing them to play with me,” Baekhyun says, rolling his eyes. “I’ll be fine.”

Chanyeol doesn't mention the fact that the next day is a Sunday — and Baekhyun did kinda promise to hang out.

“Well, can I come along? I wanna try scrimming, if you don’t mind,” Chanyeol asks, scratching the back of his head. Baekhyun is surprised, but he doesn’t show it and doesn’t prod. “Sure. Will you be staying over?”

Chanyeol hums as he thinks about it and says no. They head out for the dorms and Chanyeol practically glowing with excitement. Baekhyun smiles a little at that.

When they reach the dorms, everyone is happy to see Chanyeol with him. “Seems like you guys like Bambi more than you like me,” Baekhyun grumbles.

“Sorry Byun, but your boyfriend has our heart,” a member from another team yells from the back, and Chanyeol blushes. Baekhyun notices and silently curses. “We’re just friends,” he corrects. The room is significantly quieter and he knows he’s said something wrong, even though he doesn’t know why. He _is_ telling them the truth, after all.

“Tell them, Chanyeol,” he whispers, nudging the tall man beside him.

“Yeah, we’re just friends, sorry if you guys got the wrong impression,” Chanyeol stammers, faking a wide smile. Jongdae sends him a sad smile, and he discreetly shakes his head.

“Sorry for assuming,” someone says, but no one explains why, and Baekhyun only shrugs. “It’s cool.” _Strike one._

The next day is spent with Jongin’s team. During the night when they’ve ended their scrims, they have a little dinner together and Jongin brings Chanyeol up. “Hyung, where’s Chanyeol-hyung? Why aren’t you with him?”

“At home…? I don’t know?” Baekhyun is puzzled as to why Jongin would think they would be together when there’s something so important going on, like the League.

Jongin looks at him, munching on his fried chicken. “It’s like the two of you are joined at the hip, so I’m surprised that he isn’t with you today. It’s almost like the two of you are-”

“ _Don’t_ say it,” Baekhyun warns, glaring at him.

“-dating,” Jongin finishes, grinning. Baekhyun frowns. “Did hyung finally get himself a boyfriend?”

“For the last time, we _aren’t_ together. I wouldn’t dream of it,” Baekhyun answers tiredly. Everyone’s been bugging him about Chanyeol.

He can’t think of anything else beside the scrims, but Jongin keeps fucking talking about Chanyeol, and it’s getting on his nerves. He’s staying at the dorms so that he can concentrate on practising and get away from too much Chanyeol, but even here, Chanyeol is _everywhere._

“I don’t know. You two are pretty chummy. Streaming together, _living_ together, he even comes to see your matches… Anyone would think the two of you are dating,” Jongin comments, and it has Baekhyun wondering if they’re a couple to everyone else. _Strike two._

He doesn't even wait for a strike three — maybe it’s time to draw a line.

 

Baekhyun has been unusually quiet. Just when Chanyeol felt like they finally made progress, Baekhyun closed himself up again. The man has been holing himself up in his room, only coming out whenever he needs to eat. Even then, it’s only to take his plate, thank Chanyeol and go back to… whatever he’s doing. He hasn’t been streaming either, and Chanyeol is _very_ worried for him.

Chanyeol isn’t an idiot. He knows Baekhyun is avoiding him, but he doesn’t know why. They went from frequent cuddles to Baekhyun avoiding any form of unnecessary skinship with him. They barely speak unless Baekhyun wants to, and even then it’s not what Chanyeol wants to hear. He can’t help but wonder if he’s done something wrong.

He’s tried getting Jongdae to come and talk to him, but to no avail. _“Just give him space,”_ Jongdae has told him. _“It isn’t the first time this has happened.”_ Chanyeol finds it hard to believe that this is normal. He thinks that he should probably check on Baekhyun, but the man doesn’t seem to want to be disturbed.

Just as he leaves his room, he sees that Baekhyun is, surprisingly, leaving the house. “Where are you going?” Chanyeol asks softly.

“Somewhere,” Baekhyun vaguely replies. His stubble is obvious, and his hair isn’t properly combed. He’s wearing the outfit he had on yesterday, and he smells strongly of perfume. Chanyeol feels himself getting extremely annoyed and sorry for him.

“What time will you be back, then? Do you need dinner?” Chanyeol asks once more, but Baekhyun ignores him and slips his shoes on, leaving Chanyeol alone and stunned. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s done to deserve this cold treatment.

Out of curiosity, he decides to take a quick look at the state of Baekhyun’s room. Most streamers have a room solely for streaming purposes, but Chanyeol knows for a fact that Baekhyun streams in the same room he sleeps in. Peeking through the slightly open door, he sees that the room is a fucking mess. He jerks back at the sight, and takes a deep breath as he enters. He feels like he’s committing a terrible deed, but he really wants to know what’s got Baekhyun like…. _this._

When he enters, he finds that the room has a huge movable whiteboard sitting right smack in the center of everything. It’s scrawled with unintelligible words and tiny little diagrams all over, and it takes Chanyeol a while to realise it, but Baekhyun has been _planning._ He’s been analysing his matches, old and new, studying the new hero and writing down the strengths and weaknesses of his teammates. There are 8 people on Seoul Dynasty’s full roster, but Chanyeol sees 9 columns. He tucks that at the back of his mind and walks around the room, papers and other items scattered all over the floor — as if someone swept them off the table in frustration.

He sits at Baekhyun’s desk and sighs, leaning back in the seat. _Oh, Baekhyun._ The computer screen lights up and Chanyeol realises that he hit the mouse by accident while sitting down. He knows he shouldn’t peek, but the Overwatch home screen is there, and when he glances at the top right corner of the screen, it’s a username he doesn’t recognise, and it’s only level 30.

It’s a new account. Baekhyun’s got a new account. Of course, it isn’t unusual for streamers to own multiple accounts, but he knows Baekhyun would never get a new account just for the fun of it. He’s not that kind of streamer. He checks the profile of the account and is appalled to see the stats. The hours are mostly on the new hero, save for times where Baekhyun plays a little bit of the heroes he specialises in. He’s been practising the entire time he was holed up in his room, Chanyeol finds — and by the looks of it, it isn’t going very well. The skill rating of this account is significantly lower than Baekhyun’s actual account.

Leaning back once more, he swirls around in the chair, looking around the room. It’s plain and almost empty — only Baekhyun’s necessities are present. Chanyeol would say it almost lacks personality, but he supposes that _is_ Baekhyun’s personality.

Chanyeol knows Baekhyun is beyond stressed, and he’s guessing it’s the last match they had with Boston that triggered this.

With the match before that, and the matches way before, Chanyeol can’t say he’s surprised. Baekhyun has never been one to do well under immense pressure. They always had Minseok to keep them calm, and now that Minseok is gone, Baekhyun probably can’t handle the stress alone. _Speaking of Minseok…_ Chanyeol sighs. He’ll have to deal with that later.

He phones Jongdae and waits for him to pick up, leaving Baekhyun’s room in the process. He gently shuts the door close and goes back to his room. He wants to plan his next outing, but with Baekhyun like this, he feels like he should do something instead of have fun on his own. Besides, the last month has been more than entertaining. _“Yes, Chanyeol?”_

“Do you have practice today? Is Baekhyun with you?” Chanyeol hastily asks, not even bothering to say hello.

 _“We don’t. He’s not with me,”_ Jongdae answers, tone crisp. _“He likes to be left alone during his… episodes. If you can call them that. Don’t bother looking for him.”_ It sounds as if he’s gone through this a thousand times.

Chanyeol can’t believe his ears. Is Jongdae seriously saying that? “How could you say that?” He spits. It doesn’t even seem like Jongdae cares. “Have you even tried?”

 _“What makes you think I haven’t?”_ Jongdae shoots back angrily, and Chanyeol thinks that maybe he doesn’t know about them as much as he thinks he does. Jongdae sighs. _“Look, I know you’re worried for him. I am too, but worrying isn’t going to fix anything. You can’t help someone who doesn’t want to be helped. I’ve tried with Baekhyun, it just doesn’t work.”_

“I’m going to try anyway,” he says, determined. “At least tell me what’s wrong.”

 _“...he hasn’t been doing very well lately. In the league, I mean. Or rather, Overwatch in general. The more he plays, the more stressed out he gets. Minseok-hyung has always been there to calm him down during game plays, but obviously he can’t be with Baekhyun all the time. He’s just an easily stressed out person, to the point where he gets really depressed. He has bouts of depression pretty often, but he doesn’t want to see a therapist or take meds,”_ Jongdae says carefully, sounding a bit tired. _“But I’m sure you already know most of that.”_

Chanyeol takes it all in slowly. “I didn’t know it’s this serious, though. Baekhyun’s been studying really hard. I think he needs a break. His room is a mess,” he tells Jongdae, glancing in the direction of Baekhyun’s room. He doesn’t see the need to go into details when it’s not his place to say anything at all.

 _“Trust me, we all know that. The coaches are planning on sending Baekhyun back to Korea for a short break. But don’t tell him that yet, of course. He’s probably gonna get angry,”_ Jongdae replies.

“Okay,” Chanyeol reluctantly agrees. He’s still thinking about Baekhyun when Jongdae asks him, _“So, are you planning on joining Seoul Dynasty?”_

Chanyeol is caught off-guard and jolts up in his seat. “H-how did you know?”

Jongdae chuckles. _“Wild guess, but thanks for the confirmation. I saw the three of you talking. Baekhyun saw you guys walking back in, but he doesn’t know, yet.”_

It’s Chanyeol’s turn to sigh. “You know how I feel about being out of Korea. Although, it’s not bad as I expected it to be,” he admits. “And they told me I’ll most likely be on the starting roster, which means I would be replacing you or Baekhyun — I doubt they’ll make me learn a new hero completely. I don’t want that.”

 _“Well, Kariv from Valiant was brought in as a Widow specialist, but he’s playing Zen now, and he’s killin’ it,”_ Jongdae reminds him. _“Don’t worry about us. Just do what you wanna do. No hard feelings, man. It’s not like we won’t able to play at all.”_

“Can you really say the same for Baek?” Chanyeol says, exasperated. “You know how competitive he is.”

 _“It’s gonna be worse if he finds out you hid this from him,”_ Jongdae simply retorts. _“He was asking me if I knew why you were with the coaches, and obviously I didn’t at that point in time, so I just shrugged it off. But now that I do, I’m telling you, if Baekhyun finds out from someone else, he’s not gonna like it. That is, if you care about what he thinks.”_

“I do,” Chanyeol replies, not missing a beat. “But I don’t think now is the right time to tell him this.”

 _“You’re never gonna have a better time to tell him this,”_ Jongdae says with an air of finality. Chanyeol can feel his own resolve crumbling. _“I have to go. Baekhyun’s probably in the park nearby, if you want to see him. But I’m telling you, he’s not gonna like it.”_

 

+

 

Jongdae isn’t always right, but when it’s about Baekhyun, Chanyeol realises he almost always is. Chanyeol finds Baekhyun sitting in the park with his earphones plugged in and eyes closed. Warily, he approaches Baekhyun and sits beside him. Baekhyun must’ve sensed his presence, because just as Chanyeol is about to say something, Baekhyun frowns and opens his eyes. “I thought leaving the house was a good indication that I want to be left alone,” he says tersely as he removes his earphones, but Chanyeol is unfazed.

“I… I just have something to tell you, and I think I should tell you now,” Chanyeol replies, twiddling with his fingers. Baekhyun rolls his eyes.

“It couldn’t wait till I got home?”

“Listen, I came out here because I was _worried._ I don’t know what’s up with you, but I’m not your fucking toy you can just throw aside when you’re not feeling it. I’m here as a _friend._ You don’t have to go through everything alone, and I can be there for you, if you’d just let me,” Chanyeol fumes. “You’ve been wallowing in self-pity for a week, and you expect me to just sit in my room and ignore you?”

“A friend,” Baekhyun echoes, not looking at him. “That’s just what you are to me. You don’t have to act like this.”

“Like _what_?”

“Like… we’re in a relationship or something,” Baekhyun says, gesturing wildly with his hands. “Look, I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, but we’re _just friends_. You don’t have to worry so much, or take care of me, or do any of those… _boyfriend-ish_ things.”

“And you haven’t done the same? You’re fucking ridiculous,” Chanyeol splutters, standing up. Baekhyun looks up at him, visibly confused. He’s taken aback by what Baekhyun has said, but he wills himself not to show it. “Caring for you doesn’t mean I’m interested in you. Fuck you and your narrow-minded thinking.” He walks away in the direction towards Jongdae’s apartment, sniffling when he’s out of earshot.

Baekhyun can’t help but wonder if he was too blunt.

 

When Chanyeol reaches Jongdae’s apartment slightly teary-eyed, it’s his girlfriend who opens the door. Chanyeol is embarrassed and apologetic as he makes a move to leave, but she gently guides him into the house. Jongdae comes out moments later looking shocked, and his girlfriend leaves them alone, going back to their room.

“Sorry,” Chanyeol says, not wanting to look at Jongdae. Kiki comes up to him and licks his hand, making him smile a little. "For intruding."

“She’s very fond of you,” Jongdae explains, “she couldn’t stop whining when you left that day. Anyhow, I take it you went to find Baekhyun and he said some pretty harsh things.”

“Can you _believe_ that asshole says I treat him like he’s my boyfriend and that I should stop that?” Chanyeol says incredulously. And when Jongdae nods, he feels betrayed. “Excuse me?”

“Well… I don’t mean this in an offensive way, but you’re a pretty transparent person,” Jongdae replies nonchalantly. “Of course, I’m not saying you’re the only one acting like a boyfriend — Baekhyun definitely has himself to blame too — but you… have you seen the way you treat Baekhyun?” Chanyeol shakes his head, genuinely curious as to what evidence Jongdae has.

“Wow, you really are oblivious,” Jongdae breathes.

“For one, you cook for him all the time. I don’t even cook for my girlfriend unless it’s a special occasion. You cuddle with him all the time and the two of you are so _clingy_ with each other. You’re obviously very biased towards Baekhyun — _don’t_ even try arguing with me on this. You’ve been to his matches — of course that might just be because you’re a fan but we _all_ know that’s not the reason why. You baby him a lot,” Jongdae says, and he points a warning finger when Chanyeol attempts to interrupt him.

“How does Baekhyun like his coffee? What cuisine does he like the most? What about Korea does he miss the most? How about his family, what do you know about them? How does he sleep? What movie genres does he like? His favourite colour? Fuck, I could go on and on, and you would know the answer to every single question,” Jongdae exclaims. “In a span of… less than a year? You know Baekhyun inside out, possibly even more than I do. _Me,_ his _childhood friend._ ”

“I cook for him because he’s always eating unhealthily. I cuddle with him because he asks for them,” Chanyeol grumbles, and Jongdae raises an eyebrow to that. “Yes I’m biased towards him, but I can’t help that. I go to the matches for him, but it’s also because I want to watch them. My world doesn’t revolve around him, contrary to what all of you believe.”

“It’s just… if he doesn’t like it, why couldn’t he just tell me?”

“Oh, Baekhyun _loves_ it,” Jongdae laughs. His girlfriend comes in with water and biscuits, sitting beside Jongdae and giving Chanyeol a kind smile. “Seulgi, Chanyeol — Baekhyun’s housemate. Chanyeol, Seulgi — my girlfriend.”

Chanyeol gives a small wave and Seulgi smiles at him once more. “It’s true, Baekhyun likes it,” Seulgi affirms, munching on a biscuit. “He’s just too much of a coward to admit it. He’s like a big puppy. Always craving for attention.”

Chanyeol is utterly confused. _Then why…?_

Jongdae sighs. “You have to give him time. He’s not used to being loved so dearly by someone who is not family. Don’t project all your love onto him.”

“I don’t _love_ him, Jesus Christ,” Chanyeol murmurs. Seulgi laughs and Jongdae smiles knowingly. “Sure you don’t.” Chanyeol’s too tired to argue, so he stays silent. It’s true that he knows a lot about Baekhyun, and he can’t deny that he’s always treated Baekhyun a little differently from others, but he never knew he was so obvious about it.

“Honestly, I don’t even know what Baekhyun is thinking,” Jongdae reveals. “He says one thing but does another. It would be best to ask him yourself, if you want to. I can’t help you with anything,” he says apologetically. “I thought that maybe he liked you as well, but now, I’m not so sure.”

 

+

 

Baekhyun can’t deny that Chanyeol is what he wants.

He is aware of his own feelings for Chanyeol. He has known ever since the night Chanyeol fell asleep in his lap, so serene and angelic. But in that moment, he also realised that he could never have Chanyeol the way he wants him, simply because Chanyeol is much more than he deserves.

He knows Chanyeol is everything anyone would want in a boyfriend. It would be selfish of him to have Chanyeol to himself when he doesn’t even deserve Chanyeol as a friend. It hurts Baekhyun to know that he will never be enough for the guy he likes, but it’s a fact he has to accept.

He knows he’s crossed the line multiple times throughout Chanyeol’s stay with him — constantly asking for more than he deserves, demanding attention, craving his touch. He knows that Chanyeol didn’t deserve whatever he said to him before because that was all on him, but he also knows it’s the only way to get Chanyeol to possibly dislike him to the point of losing whatever feelings he has for Baekhyun.

Plus, with the league on his mind, it’s all too much for him.

As he’s wallowing in self-pity once again, he gets a call from Jongdae. He’s not surprised, since Chanyeol isn’t home and he _did_ walk in the direction to Jongdae’s home, he supposes he’s gonna get an earful now.

“How is he?” Baekhyun asks before Jongdae can get a word on. A frustrated sigh is his only reply. He remains silent while waiting for Jongdae to gather his thoughts.

 _“You’re a fucking asshole, you know that, right?”_ Baekhyun nods, but then he remembers that Jongdae isn’t with him. “Yeah.”

 _“He’s okay, just confused. I’m as confused as he is. I thought I told you not to hurt him,”_ Jongdae chides, and Baekhyun can hear Seulgi at the background asking him to lower down his volume. “So he’s still there?”

_“Yes, you dumb fuck. He’s playing with Kiki. You settle your own fucking dinner. Now, explain yourself.”_

“I don’t deserve him,” Baekhyun moans, feeling like he’s about to cry. “I can’t do this. I don’t want to like him, but I do, and it just feels so… _weird._ It makes me happy, but then I think of what a shitty person I am, and I hate it. He deserves so much more than me. I’m just a bad-tempered overachiever who doesn’t give a fuck about how others feel.”

 _“But it’s not your place to decide what he deserves, Baek. It’s ultimately his decision,”_ Jongdae gently reminds him. _“I think it’s best if you take a break from everything. I’m sure the league has been getting to you too.”_

“Oh my god, the league. Fuck that, seriously,” Baekhyun groans once more. _“I suppose you would like the idea of finally getting a break?”_

Baekhyun sighs. He doesn’t really want to take a break from Overwatch, but he knows Jongdae is right. “My life feels like a fucking mess,” he mumbles into the phone. “I’ll talk to the coaches about it, maybe. I’m just so tired of everything. Maybe becoming a pro-player just isn’t my calling.”

 _“Don’t say that,”_ Jongdae replies with a disapproving tone. _“You okay?”_

“You think?” Baekhyun drawls, rolling on his bed. “I’ll be okay. I’ll just… I don’t know.”

 _“Okay. Let’s start with what you said to Chanyeol today,”_ Jongdae probes, and he rolls his eyes. Jongdae is trying to be his therapist again. Baekhyun humours him. “I told him to stop treating me like his boyfriend.”

_“And why did you say that?”_

“Be _cause,_ there are people out there who are _so_ clearly interested in him. People who are so much nicer and sweeter than I am who will probably treat him better than I do. People far more deserving. But he goes ahead and ruin any chance of a happy relationship for himself by acting like my boyfriend, holding my hand while we’re out, hugging me, glaring at people who glance my way,” Baekhyun says. “Of course I like that. But I don’t want him to be tied down to me. I’m the only gay person he knows, as far as I recall, so obviously he would like me. There’s no one else for him to like, no one else to reciprocate his feelings.”

_“Do you like him?”_

“Obviously.”

 _“Then just accept that he likes you too. Not because you’re gay as well, but because you’re Byun Baekhyun. Why can’t you just be happy for yourself, too? Why can’t you just allow yourself to fall for someone?”_ Jongdae sounds irritated. Baekhyun doesn’t know how to explain himself. He’s quiet for a few moments before Jongdae calls out his name.

“I just don’t want to get attached to someone who’s going to leave me,” Baekhyun answers softly as he lets reality sink in. “You know Chanyeol wants to live in Korea. I’m not willing to leave the States just because he wants me to, and I won’t let him stay here just because of me. And long-distance relationships suck. I get too easily jealous and paranoid for that.”

 _“...wow. I’m actually speechless. Stop thinking the world revolves around you and think about others for once,”_ Jongdae barks into the phone and hangs up.

Baekhyun is confused by Jongdae’s words. How is he being selfish by saving himself and Chanyeol from an inevitable heartbreak? They wouldn’t last. Baekhyun has only known one-night stands, never relationships. He won’t make a good boyfriend, and Chanyeol deserves the best.

He shrugs to himself and goes to the kitchen to make some instant noodles, dialing one of his coaches in the process. “Hey coach, do you think it’s okay if I take a break? I know I haven’t been performing very well, and it might be better if someone else subs in for me...”

 _“We were planning to talk to you about that, actually. You seem really stressed out. We think you should sit out for the next few matches, maybe go back to Korea for a breather.”_ Baekhyun is stunned by their proposal, but also kinda offended that they felt he shouldn’t play. “Go back to Korea?”

_“Why not? Your trip will be paid for, of course, so don’t worry about that. Just take a good break from Overwatch. You need that.”_

“I… I’ll think about it. Thanks, coach.”

 _“No problem, Byun,”_ his coach replies, hanging up. _That was fast_ , Baekhyun thinks, chuckling a little. He didn’t expect that, but he knows he’s pretty obvious when he’s having one of his… breakdowns. This could be good for him, Baekhyun knows it, but he can’t help but wonder if Korea would really be good for him. Time away from Chanyeol.

He doesn’t like the sound of that.

 

+

 

When Chanyeol arrives home after an eventful day with Kiki, he’s reminded of the shit he has to deal with when he enters the apartment. But he’s proven wrong when Baekhyun greets him like nothing’s wrong as he kicks his shoes off, the man sitting on the couch with his glasses on as he reads a book.

Chanyeol warily says hello back, about to retreat to his room when Baekhyun stops him. “What did you want to tell me earlier?”

Chanyeol turns around to glare at him. “And you want to know now because?”

Baekhyun exhales deeply and sets his book down, looking at Chanyeol. “Maybe we should talk.”

“Oh, so _now_ you think we should talk? After a week of pushing me around and ignoring me whenever you feel like it, you think we should talk?” Chanyeol snaps angrily. “Forget it. It’s nothing important.” He slams his door shut and immediately regrets it. He could’ve fixed whatever issue he has with Baekhyun, but he ruined it. There’s a knock on his door as he undresses, and he sighs in relief.

He pretends to be mad as he yells for Baekhyun to enter, and Baekhyun shuts his eyes when he realises Chanyeol is still changing. “Sorry to interrupt,” Baekhyun says, not sounding sorry at all.

“Whatever. What do you want? You’ve made it clear you’re not interested, you don’t have to tell me twice,” Chanyeol says, hoping that Baekhyun would tell him otherwise. But he’s left disappointed when Baekhyun completely ignores the last sentence and asks him _again,_ what he wanted to say in the park.

“I’m joining Seoul,” is what Chanyeol says. It isn’t exactly a lie — he originally wanted to tell Baekhyun about the offer, but he’s made up his mind now. He’s going to play for Seoul Dynasty.

“You _what?_ ”

“I’m joining Seoul,” Chanyeol repeats. “I got an offer from the coaches. I told them I’d think about it, and I’ve thought about it. It might not be a bad idea after all.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun says lamely, because he doesn’t know what else to say. “That’s nice.” He’s kinda upset that Chanyeol didn’t tell him about the offer, but he knows he’s been avoiding Chanyeol so much that it was probably hard for him to bring it up. He’s still standing by the door and wondering if he should have a proper talk with Chanyeol when his thoughts are interrupted.

“I just wish you told me that I bothered you that much,” Chanyeol says quietly. Baekhyun looks up at him and regrets it, because the hurt is written all over his face.

“I’m sorry,” is all Baekhyun can offer. _You don’t bother me at all,_ he wants to say, but this is probably for the best. “I never meant to lead you on. It’s just… we _can’t._ ”

“Why not?” Chanyeol asks, standing up. He walks towards Baekhyun, frowning. “Why can’t we be anything more than friends?”

“I’m literally the only gay person you know, of course you would like me,” Baekhyun says, repeating what he said to Jongdae. Chanyeol scoffs at his words.

“That’s definitely not why I like you.”

“Please just… just like someone else,” Baekhyun pleads, pushing Chanyeol away.

“So you mean to say you’ve never liked me,” Chanyeol states. Baekhyun nods once as he avoids eye contact, and Chanyeol runs his fingers through his hair in frustration. “I need you to _say_ it, Baekhyun.”

“So then explain all the skinship and affection,” he demands. He knows he’s acting childish and desperate, but he doesn’t care. He just needs to hear it from Baekhyun. “You don’t honestly think I wouldn’t have mistaken it for actual feelings?”

“...I’m sorry,” Baekhyun repeats, looking down at the floor. He really brought this onto himself. “You’re nice and all, but it just isn’t going to work out between us.”

Chanyeol perks up at that, but he frowns. “How do you know if you’ve never tried? What’s holding you back?”

Baekhyun shakes his head. He wants to leave, but his body feels like it’s rooted to the ground and he can’t get a word out either. He feels pathetic. Chanyeol sighs. “Just answer my last question then. How long?”

Baekhyun is confused at first, but then he understands. How long has he known… about Chanyeol’s feelings for him? “...I’ve known for quite a while. Just a hunch.”

“You really are something else, Byun Baekhyun,” he mutters, going to his bed. “If you’re done, you can leave.”

Baekhyun leaves without a fight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anything is confusing, do let me know. I've had like 4 friends read through this just to see if it's okay lol
> 
> Comments/kudos are appreciated as always! ^^


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> short update. unbeta'd.
> 
> if you’re confused by Baekhyun, he’s basically convinced that Chanyeol deserves better than him and should date someone else before settling for someone like him. Anyway, sometimes feelings just don’t make sense lol.
> 
> Ladder = ranked games.

Chanyeol wakes up the next day feeling pumped. He has an agenda in mind, and he plans to follow it to a T, starting with… breakfast. He texts one of the coaches to let them know he’ll be going to the team house today — they’d given him their numbers the same day they offered him a position. Honestly, he’s pretty excited to join the team, because he feels like he’s making the teenage him proud. However, there’s always a ‘what if’ nagging at him, and he tries his best to ignore it.

He’s making his breakfast and he nearly makes a portion for two when he remembers what Baekhyun told him yesterday. Huffing, he frowns as he makes enough for one. Wolfing down his food, he stares in the direction of Baekhyun’s room, hoping the latter wouldn’t come out and make things awkward for him.

While it’s true that Baekhyun’s the first person he’s liked, Baekhyun isn’t the _only_ one. Chanyeol did like Baekhyun back in Korea, but he has liked his fair share of guys back in college after Baekhyun had left. He’s just never liked them enough to maintain anything serious. But with Baekhyun, he feels different. Chanyeol can’t describe the rush he gets whenever he’s with him.

Chanyeol resists the urge to make breakfast for Baekhyun and hastily leaves the apartment, and for the first time since moving in, not letting Baekhyun know where he’s gone to.

 

+

 

When he reaches the team house with the help of Google Maps, the person who opens the door is Sehun. “Oh, hey. You live in the dorms?” Chanyeol asks, stepping into the place. Sehun shrugs groggily, muttering  something incoherent, and Chanyeol supposes it’s too early for him. 

“Sorry,” he says in a low voice. “Go back to sleep, Sehun.” The man nods and shuffles away, not even asking Chanyeol why he’s there. He wanders around the place and finds one of the coaches in the kitchen, fixing up a meal.

“When you said you’d be here today I didn’t think you’d be this early,” the coach says, back still facing Chanyeol. He turns around and Chanyeol sees that he’s just eating spoonfuls of Nutella. “You know me as coach Lee, but you can call me Jinki-hyung if you want. Anyway, I take it you’ve decided on joining us?” He grabs a chair and sits down, motioning for Chanyeol to do the same. 

Chanyeol nods, sitting beside the coach. “I mean… I wouldn’t know how it’s like till I’ve tried it, right?”

“Great!” Jinki exclaims, licking up the remainder of the chocolate spread from his spoon and dipping it into the jar again. Chanyeol tries not to look too scandalised. “Don’t worry, this jar is exclusively mine. Anyway, we commence today. You’ll be subbing in for Baekhyun during our scrims, but you won’t be playing in starting roster yet. We have-” Chanyeol tears his eyes away from the jar and stares at Jinki, puzzled. “Baekhyun?”

Jinki looks surprised, as if Chanyeol should’ve known about this. “Um, well, yes. Baekhyun’s flying off today. Back to South Korea.”

“He _what_?” Chanyeol stands up from his seat, about to go to find Baekhyun. _Baekhyun is leaving?_ Jinki tugs at his sleeve.

“It was a last minute decision. He hasn’t been well, and he called me yesterday afternoon to ask if he could take a break, so we suggested he goes back home for a breather. But we didn’t expect him to want to leave so soon, much less agree so quickly,” Jinki explains.

“He agreed immediately?” Chanyeol presses, and when Jinki hesitates, he knows that Baekhyun didn’t. Shoulders slumped, he sits back in the chair. Baekhyun didn’t tell him. Jinki observes him for a moment before taking the spoon out of his mouth with a _pop._

“You can go back to see him, if you want. Scrims don’t start till 10am. It’s okay to be a little late since it’s your first day.” Chanyeol shakes his head, looking down at his lap.

“It’s okay. He probably doesn’t want to see me anyway,” he mumbles, playing with the hem of his shirt. “I’ll just sit outside for a bit.” Without waiting for a reply, he leaves the kitchen, moody. Baekhyun is an extremely confusing person, he thinks. Chanyeol scrolls through his phone as he walks to the patio, replying to messages and stopping at Baekhyun’s chat.

He sits in one of the cushioned seats and belatedly realises that he didn’t ask Jinki what time Baekhyun’s flight is, and he doesn’t really feel like going back to ask for details. He clicks on their chat and sees that the last message is sent by him two days ago, and Baekhyun hasn’t even opened their chatlog. Sighing, he forces himself to exit their chat. And then he sees it. The messages from Minseok that he’s been ignoring for days now. Without reading the messages, he calls Minseok.

It takes a few moments before he finally gets through. _“Hello?”_ Minseok’s hoarse voice comes through and Chanyeol feels bad for forgetting that time zones exist. Minseok has always been an early sleeper.

“Hey, sorry for calling so late. I’ll just… I’m gonna hang up now,” Chanyeol says, but Minseok frantically stops him.

 _“No! No, it’s okay, just give me a minute…”_ Chanyeol hears a lot of clatter and shuffling about and Minseok finally comes on the line again. He doesn’t know how much he misses listening to Minseok’s voice until he hears it once more. _“Okay, yeah. What’s up?”_ Chanyeol swears he heard a tremble in his voice.

“I um… just wanted to check up on you. Sorry I haven’t been replying to your messages,” Chanyeol replies, still carefully considering his words. He doesn’t know how to talk about the elephant in the room, but Minseok saves him the trouble.

 _“It’s no problem. I would’ve reacted the same way if someone suddenly confessed out of the blue,”_ Minseok says nonchalantly, and Chanyeol chokes on air.

“B-but you’re not just someone,” he starts, and Minseok is quick to hush him. _“Yeah, I’m your best friend. And we should just stay that way, I get it.”_

 _“Because you like Baekhyun, don’t you? Always have,”_ Minseok states quietly, sounding more awake. Chanyeol contemplates lying to him, but he knows it’s no use. Minseok knows him inside out. He settles for an apology, and Minseok chuckles. 

 _“The only thing you should be sorry about is waking me up from my amazing sleep,”_ Minseok grumbles. _“I’ll text you when I wake up. Don’t overthink things—I’m just glad you’ve stopped ignoring me.”_ Chanyeol can hear the smile in his voice. He says good night and begrudgingly hangs up.

He sighs. If only Minseok didn’t leave Seoul Dynasty. All these wouldn’t have happened because Chanyeol would definitely be staying with him instead of Baekhyun, and Baekhyun would always remain a celebrity crush-slash-person he occasionally talks to. A lot of things would have changed, but Chanyeol doesn’t know if he really regrets this whole ‘getting to know Baekhyun’ thing even after everything that happened last night.

He stays in the patio and thinks about sending a message to Baekhyun. _I wish you told me,_ he types. _Have a safe flight._ Just then, someone comes out of the team house and startles him, phone nearly falling out of his hands and onto the ground. He manages to keep it on his lap, and he looks up to see who it is. “Scrims are starting,” Jongdae says, smiling at him and waving him in. Chanyeol is momentarily surprised before he remembers that Jongdae is on the team as well.

He glances at his screen to check the time and sees a message from Baekhyun. He nearly screams, but he bites down on his cheek to stop himself from doing so. He pockets his phone without opening the text and goes off to join the team.

Baekhyun can wait.

 

 

Scrims are more tiring than he expected. Everyone in the match is on the top 500 leaderboard and they’re all more or less familiar with each other’s playstyle, so the games last longer than usual than normal ladder games due to their competency. However, Chanyeol learns that working with a team you’re familiar with is so much easier. The other three players on the team are not his friends, but he’s played with them on the ladder often, and they hit off right away. There are still things he has to get used to, like how often they scream into their mics and how differently he plays from the rest of the team, but other than that, Chanyeol thinks it was a pretty good first for him.

No one mentions Baekhyun or is surprised that Chanyeol is around, so Chanyeol guesses that the coaches have already briefed them. He wants to ask Jongdae and Sehun about it, but he refrains from mixing personal issues with what is now his work, and holds his tongue till they’re done with scrims. When they take a lunch break hours later, he’s slightly hesitant to join them, but they welcome him with open arms and Chanyeol sees that they’ve prepared a feast. 

This isn’t too bad after all and he’s off to a good start, Baekhyun briefly forgotten.

“To the newest addition to the family, Park “bambi” Chanyeol!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it took slightly longer. the next part will definitely be longer! (the lunch doesn't just end there lol) I’ve just been giving myself a break from this fic. Also I’ve been working on an a/b/o baeksoo. And finding a job. And life in general.
> 
> the next update will take a while until I've sorted my life out


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> another short update because the next chapter is another scene. also kinda unmotivated to write, but I know people are waiting so I'll try my best to update more frequently! unbeta'd

No one seems bothered by the fact that Baekhyun decided to just up and leave without a second thought. Jongdae is sitting to his right, and Sehun on his left. They’re both wolfing down their food without a care in the world, and Chanyeol frowns.

“Did you guys know?” He asks, looking at the both of them. Jongdae swallows his food and grabs more from the tray in front of him.

“He told us in the group chat last night, but I didn’t read the text till this morning,” Jongdae confesses, moaning when the eclair practically melts in his mouth. “I’m assuming you didn’t know? That fucker,” he growls. Sehun doesn’t say a word, but looks at the both of them.

“Jinki-hyung told me I had to sub for him today, that’s how I found out,” Chanyeol grumbles, tearing a piece of chicken off with his teeth. “ _Imagine_ not telling your housemate you were leaving for God knows how long. Rude.”

“Baekhyun’s like that. He tends to run away from his problems. I’m not defending his actions, but try to give him time,” Jongdae tries to placate him. He slides a plate over to Chanyeol and tops it up with more dessert, grinning at him. “Here, have more eclairs. They’re fucking good.”

“You haven’t even had the main course.”

“Dessert is for any time of the day,” Jongdae reasons, popping another eclair into his mouth. “it’s my kind of appetiser.”

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and takes one anyway, the sweetness mixing with the saltiness of the chicken and he gags. Maybe he shouldn’t have done that. He picks up his phone and scrolls through social media, bored out of his mind. No one has struck up a conversation with him so far apart from Jongdae and Sehun, and he doesn’t mind. They’re all too busy eating and looking at their phones.

He sees two new group chats in his inbox, one titled _‘Seoul Dynasty OWL’_ and the other is _‘sehun has a crush’_. Messages are flooding in, and they’re mostly from the second group chat. Curious, he opens it and looks through the members — it’s nearly the entire roster — no coaches. And then he reads the messages.

 

 _Jongdae  
_ _15:11_  Everyone say hi

 _Sehunnie  
_ _15:11_  hi

 _You  
_ Hi   _15:11_

 _Jongdae_  
_15:12_   Ahem  
_15:12_   EVERYONE

 

A couple of the other team members say their greetings, and they go back to talking about whatever they were talking about before—that is, Sehun’s crush. Chanyeol swipes left on his message to see if Baekhyun has read it, and is disappointed to see that he has. Baekhyun hasn’t said a word since he entered the group chat, but it may just be because he’s quiet in them; Chanyeol wouldn’t know. And then he belatedly remembers that Baekhyun has sent him a message on another platform, and he quickly goes to see their chat.

 

 _You_  
I just wish you told me.  
Have a safe flighttrr   _09:58_

 _B  
_ _09:58_   Sorry.

 

Chanyeol deflates after reading it, kinda expecting more from him. But it feels like Baekhyun’s not just apologising for not telling him about leaving. “Can’t believe I like a loser like him,” Chanyeol mumbles to himself, tossing his phone onto table. It startles Jongdae, who’s already moved on to the main course. Chanyeol shakes his head when Jongdae looks at him, and the latter only shrugs and goes back to stuffing his face with food.

“So, a crush, huh?” He says, glancing at Sehun. He digs into his food and the message from Baekhyun is long forgotten. When Sehun nods stiffly, Chanyeol thinks it’s kind of cute. He nudges Sehun with his shoulder, raising his eyebrow.

“It’s Jongin,” Sehun mumbles, sipping on his drink. He doesn’t even bother denying it or changing the topic. “Pretty sure every team knows about it because our team just can’t shut the fuck up.” He’s complaining, but he doesn’t seem to mind. There’s no spite in his words and if anything, he seems unaffected by it. There’s a small smile creeping onto his face, and Chanyeol can’t help but smile as well.

“You must really like him,” Chanyeol comments, watching as Sehun smiles stupidly to himself. He wishes he could be like that.

“Yeah, but he’s totally straight, so,” Sehun replies, standing up to grab some food from Chanyeol’s side.

“Oh,” is all Chanyeol can say. How does Sehun manage to keep a smile on his face even when he knows he will never have a chance with the person he likes? Chanyeol doesn’t think he can do that. In fact, he can’t even handle it right now, and he isn’t even in the same boat as Sehun.

“Enough about me,” Sehun tells him, “what about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. Baekhyun-hyung, huh?” Sehun’s smile widens, and Chanyeol can hear the teasing tone in his voice. He stays silent, slurping on his noodles instead. Sehun doesn’t prod, but he continues to stare, and Chanyeol gives up after a while.

“He’s an asshole,” Chanyeol says. “So I know that it’s super obvious that I like him — I can’t help it — but I thought he felt the same way. And then he’s suddenly cold towards me and he expects me to be okay with it? He flat out rejected me last night and told me, _begged_ me to like someone else.” It feels like a weight off his shoulders when he finally says it aloud. Talking about his problems always helped, although it always made him annoyed again over something that already happened.

Sehun nods as he attentively listens to Chanyeol’s monologue, and by the time Chanyeol is done telling him everything that has happened between him and Baekhyun, it’s only the two of them left outside, along with a few others. Chanyeol makes a move to enter the team house, fearing that they’ll be reprimanded, but Sehun stops him, telling him that they’re only inside to play games and not because their lunch is over.

Chanyeol sits back down and sighs. He’s lost, torn between giving up on Baekhyun and chasing after him. “I think he just needs some time. From what I’ve seen and heard, he’s definitely into you,” Sehun says. “But I can’t give an explanation as to why he’s doing this. It’s truly a Baekhyun thing. No one can tell you what he’s thinking except the man himself.”

Chanyeol moans in frustration, kicking the ground. “I fucking hate this. I just want to know what he’s thinking.”

“What does Minseok-hyung think of all of this?” Chanyeol looks up at Sehun, startled.

“What has Minseok got to do with this?” He shoots back, tilting his head. He _knows_ what Sehun means, but he wants to hear it from him. Sehun falters, and it seems like he’s not sure if he should say it, but he finally does.

“Well… you know… hyung talks about you a lot,” Sehun replies sheepishly. Chanyeol doesn’t need to hear anymore. Sehun knows.

“How long?” Sehun fidgets in his seat under Chanyeol’s unnerving stare.

“Stop looking at me like that, hyung,” he whines, “ever since we became friends. Your name would always pop up. It wasn’t long before I figured he had a massive crush. And then he introduced us to your stream.”

“That long,” Chanyeol muses. That’s around July last year, and Chanyeol figures Minseok probably liked him since way before. He feels guilty for not realising sooner.

Minseok was inevitably one of his crushes back then. Chanyeol has always been the type to develop tiny little crushes on every person he meets, so Minseok was no exception. But his interest in Minseok was short-lived and Chanyeol soon realised that he just _really_ admired his hyung and enjoyed his company. Minseok didn’t — doesn’t — need to know that.

“He confessed before I left for America,” Chanyeol admits, looking down at his can of soda. “I really came here with the intention of going on a long holiday alone, but now it just feels more like I wanted time away from Minseok.”

Sehun nods his head thoughtfully, reaching out for another drink. “What about now?”

“I miss him,” Chanyeol immediately answers. He doesn’t even have to think about it — to spend time away from his best friend for so long without communication was truly a torture — but he can only have himself to blame. Minseok never projected his feelings onto him or expected him to reciprocate, it was just Chanyeol’s warped perspective of things. “I called him this morning, actually. We’ll talk when he wakes up.”

“That’s a long ass talk you have coming your way,” Sehun mutters, downing his drink.

 

+ 

 

Sehun was right. Chanyeol definitely didn’t expect to be on the phone with Minseok for nearly two hours when he got home, and they are only just _starting_ to talk about the topic Chanyeol’s been avoiding. The first hour or so was spent catching up, with Chanyeol telling Minseok all that happened between him and Baekhyun, his contract with Seoul Dynasty, and so on. “Can you believe I’ve already been here for a month?” Chanyeol says in awe, lying in bed, “it sure as hell doesn’t feel like it.”

 _“It feels like it’s been longer than a month,”_ Minseok mutters, and Chanyeol immediately regrets his choice of words. He turns to lie on his side, putting Minseok on speakerphone.

“Sorry if I’ve been insensitive,” Chanyeol mumbles back, and Minseok chuckles. Chanyeol misses the times when they were still in Korea, and Minseok would come over all the time and they would spend their time doing nothing productive. Kinda like now, but face to face.

 _“It’s okay,”_ Minseok says, but Chanyeol knows it isn’t.

“Liar,” he mutters, voice cracking. Minseok doesn’t say anything to reassure him. Instead, he asks, _“how are things going with Baekhyun? Tell him I say hi.”_

“You can tell him yourself,” Chanyeol sighs, turning to lie on his front. He starts a mini game on his laptop, kicking his feet in the air as he waits for it to load. _“What do you mean, I can tell him myself?”_

“He’s going back to Korea for a break,” Chanyeol replies monotonously. He leaves out the fact that Baekhyun upped and left without a word to him. Minseok gasps and Chanyeol knows he’s actually shocked, because _the_ Byun Baekhyun? _Resting?_ Not even a word in his dictionary.

_“No way.”_

“Uh, yes way. His flight was this afternoon or something. I wouldn’t know,” he adds the last part in a softer tone, but Minseok catches it. “ _You wouldn’t know? Why wouldn’t you know? You’re his housemate.”_

“I didn’t tell you that. How’d you know?” Chanyeol deflects the question, palms sweating. He’s also curious as to how Minseok knows Chanyeol’s been living with Baekhyun. He’s talked about him and Baekhyun, but he hasn’t mentioned anything about living together.

_“I’m still in the Sehun group chat, in case you haven’t noticed. Obviously, it’s been brought up before. Baekhyun doesn’t just house anyone.”_

_“And what do you mean you wouldn’t know? You don’t know what time his flight was? Wouldn’t he have told you?”_ Minseok presses, and Chanyeol groans, eyes fluttering shut.

“I don’t know, okay? I went to the team house earlier to accept the offer and Jinki-hyung told me I’d be subbing for Baek, and I asked why, and he said, ‘didn’t you know? Baekhyun is going back to Korea,’ and that’s how I fucking found out,” Chanyeol says, raising his voice towards the end. Thinking about it pisses him off.

Minseok is silent for a while and Chanyeol has to call his name a couple of times before the man speaks. Chanyeol can’t focus on his game anymore and he wonders why he even started it in the first place. _“Sorry, I just got a message from Baekhyun. Talk about timing, huh?”_

“Fuck him,” Chanyeol says angrily, frowning at his screen. _“I’ll talk to him about it when we meet.”_

“Don’t bother,” Chanyeol sighs, not liking the sound of that. He supposes Minseok could talk some sense into Baekhyun since the latter looks up to him, but it would probably be forced, and Chanyeol doesn’t want that. “I want us to settle this on our own.”

 _“Sometimes, you need a mediator who knows both parties well,”_ Minseok reasons, but he gives in. _“I won’t talk about it unless you ask me to. Or unless he does.”_

“Enough of that. Let’s talk about you,” Chanyeol dismisses. Minseok relents and doesn’t mention Baekhyun for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR PLS LOOK FORWARD TO THE NEXT CHAPTER SDKSKDSK


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one of my favourite chapters. special thanks to K.
> 
> p.s. [for people who prefer aff](https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1346192/could-i-lock-in-your-love-baby-sliceoflife-exo-baekhyun-chanyeol-baekyeol-chanbaek-slowbuild-gamerau) I should've said this earlier lmao

When Baekhyun texted Minseok, he wasn’t expecting much. The two of them aren’t especially close, but Minseok is someone he’s comfortable with and he doesn’t feel like going back to his empty apartment. His mum is away for a holiday, too, thus he’s left with no one. So he asked Minseok if he could room with him, and when Minseok immediately replied with a _OK_ , he was pleasantly surprised.

Baekhyun didn’t expect Minseok to offer to pick him up at the airport, either. But he was more than happy to agree when Minseok dropped him a text and asked for his flight details so he could drive Baekhyun home, and Baekhyun did just that with zero hesitation. His _idol_ offering to pick him up? Who could resist?

So Baekhyun waits patiently at the terminal for Minseok to come and pick him up, and he sends Minseok a quick text to let him know that he’s arrived — a message that goes unread. He worries a little when he’s waited for nearly half an hour, starting to get a little impatient, but then he sees Minseok from a distance, walking towards him.

He gets up from the seat and waves at the man, hand faltering and smile fading when he doesn’t get a wave in return. But it’s 6 in the morning, so he chalks it up to Minseok being too tired. “Hi, hyung,” Baekhyun greets once Minseok is near him, smiling at him once more.

Minseok wordlessly gives him a tired smile and reaches his hand out for Baekhyun’s luggage, but Baekhyun gently pushes his hand away. “It’s okay, I’ve got it. Sorry for making you come this early,” he adds, and Minseok waves him off. “It’s no problem. I offered to come. Come on, I don’t want to pay the crazy ass parking fee here. We can have breakfast at my place.”

The walk to the carpark is relatively quiet. Baekhyun wants to talk about his time in America, but Minseok was there with him for the first few months and nothing much has changed since then. There’s Chanyeol, but Baekhyun isn’t sure he wants to risk losing his head by telling him what he’s done, because he knows how protective Minseok is over Chanyeol.

“Stop thinking so much,” Minseok mutters when they get into the car. Baekhyun glances at him, embarrassed. “Sorry.”

Minseok looks him in the eye, seemingly disinterested. Baekhyun feels like he’s being interrogated under the stare. “What are you sorry for?” It feels like there’s an underlying meaning to his words, but Baekhyun just laughs nervously and doesn’t reply. He looks straight ahead and yawns, hoping Minseok wouldn’t press further.

And when Minseok starts the car, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.

The silence is slightly uncomfortable for Baekhyun, and he feels like there’s tension in the air. He tries his best to avoid looking at Minseok or even talking to him. He considers taking his earphones out to listen to some music, but he figures that would be a little rude.

“Play a song if you want,” Minseok says to him, as if he read his mind. Baekhyun stutters when he says okay and he mentally slaps himself for being so nervous. Why is he feeling so jittery? He plays a loud song to calm his nerves and bobs his head to the rhythm, humming along. And then Minseok speaks.

“So why are you back all of a sudden?”

“Just needed a breather, you know?” Baekhyun replies, not looking at him. He admires the scenery instead, suddenly feeling homesick even though he’s already back where he belongs.

“Oh yeah, I do know,” Minseok murmurs, and Baekhyun nearly misses what he said. He’s about to ask what he means by that, but Minseok continues on, “how’s Dynasty? Have they looked for any new players? It’s transfer season.”

“I guess they’ve started scouting…” Baekhyun trails off, not knowing what else is there to say. Minseok already knows Chanyeol is in their team anyway, since he joined the chat just yesterday. The coaches haven’t told him anything else either...

“Oh, yeah. They took Chanyeol in. I’m surprised Yeolie even _considered_ the offer,” Minseok tells him, and Baekhyun ignores the jealousy bubbling in his chest. He doesn’t even get to call Chanyeol that. “I didn’t know they wanted him.”

“Didn’t Chanyeol tell you?” Baekhyun asks, curious. He looks to Minseok for an answer, and the man shakes his head. “We haven’t talked since he left for Korea. Well, up till last night.” There’s a tinge of irritation in his voice and his eyebrows are furrowed; Baekhyun wonders what’s bothering him, but he doesn’t know if he should ask.

“Oh.” They don’t speak for the rest of the ride — which thankfully, isn’t long. They reach Minseok’s apartment pretty soon after and Baekhyun drags his luggage to the elevator, Minseok not looking at him at all. He can’t help but feel like Minseok’s angry at him for something. Chanyeol pops up in his mind, and he shakes his head. It can’t be.

“You okay, hyung?” Baekhyun asks carefully when they enter the lift. Minseok turns to look at him, lips curled up in a small smile. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Somehow the smile feels sinister, and Baekhyun has a feeling that Minseok knows everything that’s happened between him and Chanyeol. Heart pounding loudly in his chest, he thinks that maybe, he’s fucked. He doesn’t know what Chanyeol could’ve told him, but he doesn’t want to face Minseok’s wrath.

Minseok shows him his room and asks him if he wants to have breakfast or if he wants to go to sleep, and Baekhyun shrugs. He’s hungry, but he’s tired and he kinda wants to avoid Minseok for a bit. “I’ll go to sleep first,” he groans, falling onto his bed. Minseok gently closes the door with a click, and Baekhyun screams into the sheets. “This was a fucking bad idea,” he says to himself, “Yeah, room with Chanyeol’s best friend! What could go wrong?”

Even here in Korea, he can’t escape Chanyeol. Overwatch is another thing, though. He left a message on his social media before leaving, letting his fans know that he would stop streaming indefinitely due to health issues, and he’s received nothing but blessings and positive comments. He’s glad that aspect of it is taken care of, but he still feels bad for leaving the team so abruptly. And he feels like shit for leaving Chanyeol like that.

He rolls over to his side and takes his phone out, checking his messages. The team is asking if he’s in Korea yet, and he hastily replies with a _yes_ and takes a quick selfie to send to them. Then he opens his chat with Chanyeol and wonders if he should say anything, but Chanyeol hasn’t replied to his _sorry,_ so… “maybe not,” he mumbles.

 _Chanyeol._ Just why is he holding back from having Chanyeol all to himself? Baekhyun _wants_ him, but he’s so afraid of fucking up. He can’t help but feel like once Chanyeol gets him, he’ll… stop being interested. What if they start dating and Chanyeol finds out Baekhyun is not what he imagined him to be?

Baekhyun sighs. He tosses his phone aside and tries to sleep, but his mind is wide awake and it won’t shut off. After tossing and turning several times, he gives up and goes to freshen up. Might as well start his day early, anyway.

He creeps out of the room with his clothes in his hold, afraid to wake Minseok up. But when he reaches the kitchen, he sees that the man is still up and on the phone with someone, talking softly. Minseok is holding something flat in his hand, staring at it. Curious and not wanting to interrupt, he hides behind a wall and waits for Minseok to show any indications of hanging up.

“Yeah, he’s sleeping, I think,” Baekhyun can hear Minseok saying. _Why is he talking about me?_ “Don’t worry so much, Yeolie. I wish you cared about me as much as you care about Baekhyun.” It’s probably a joke, but Minseok sounds so bitter and Baekhyun can’t help but take a peek at him.

“I know, I know, I was just kidding,” Minseok says tenderly. Baekhyun silently scoffs. _Right._ “It’s just… you know I love you, Chanyeol.”

There’s a gentle expression on his face and Baekhyun gapes at him. He sets the item down and Baekhyun can see that it’s a photo of a couple — he doesn’t need to see the faces to know it’s a photo of Minseok and Chanyeol. And then he realises: Minseok is in _love_ with Chanyeol.

Minseok might have said that in a ‘best friend way’, but Baekhyun’s watched enough dramas and people falling in love to know what he really means. Then again, Minseok was _always_ talking about Chanyeol, and Baekhyun has always thought it was just Minseok being a very proud best friend… but now that he thinks of it again, he realises he was just being very dense about it. It’s clear as day — how could he have not noticed before?

“Love you. Bye,” Minseok ends the call, and Baekhyun quickly acts as if he’s just arrived at the kitchen. He nods his head at Minseok in greeting, keeping a straight face and nervously whistling a tune. Minseok side eyes him and Baekhyun panics internally, hastily locking himself in the bathroom.

“Let me know when you’re done,” Minseok yells at him, “I want to use the bathroom too.”

Baekhyun stays in the bathroom for a very long time.

  


Baekhyun ends up spending his morning unpacking his stuff. It reminds him of when Chanyeol moves in with him, and he heaves a sigh. Everything reminds him of Chanyeol. He glances at the clock when he’s done, surprised to see that it’s already past 12.

“Should I sleep or go out for lunch…” Baekhyun mumbles to himself, lying in bed. He searches online for delivery services and sighs when they’re all too expensive for just one person. And then he remembers that he’s not home alone. He dials Minseok’s number, looking up at his ceiling as he waits for the man to pick up.

 _“You’re literally next door. Why are you calling me?”_ Minseok’s voice comes through.

“I’m hungry. Do you wanna call for delivery?” Baekhyun asks excitedly. Minseok sighs on the other end, and Baekhyun pouts. “Do you not want to? It’s okay…” he trails off, and Minseok tells him no.

 _“I’ll order. Just text me what you want,”_ Minseok says briskly, and Baekhyun’s pout deepens. Minseok sounds irritated at him, and Baekhyun is starting to regret asking to stay with him.

“Okay. Thanks, hyung,” he gratefully replies, and Minseok hangs up without a word. Baekhyun’s heart feels heavier than it was before. He just got here, but he wants to leave already.

 

+

 

It’s been over a week since he touched down in Korea, and Baekhyun’s been making little to no progress. His mind is still filled with thoughts of Chanyeol even though he’s trying desperately to avoid anything Chanyeol-related (and failing), and he can sense Minseok’s probable hatred for him.

It’s been an awkward stay at Minseok’s — he can tell that Minseok’s trying not to blow up at him, and Baekhyun is trying not to push his buttons. At least he’s sure now that Minseok knows what happened between him and Chanyeol, and that he’s not happy about it.

On the bright side, he hadn’t been thinking much about the League. In fact, he’s forgotten that he actually _has_ to go back to America and play once again. He does get updates on how the team is doing though, and inevitably, Chanyeol will come up as a topic. In just a week, he’s become their new (potentially) star player.

He’s been texting Jongdae and sometimes he can’t resist and ends up asking about Chanyeol, to which Jongdae will only reply with a _He’s fine_ and talk about something else, and Baekhyun won’t probe. He probably deserves it, but he can’t help but worry about Chanyeol.

When he leaves his room, he finds that Minseok has a luggage out and is just watching TV in the living hall. Curious, he walks to him and joins him on the couch. “Going somewhere?”

Minseok gives him a look, gesturing to his luggage. “What does it look like?”

“That you’re going somewhere…?”

“Yeah, I am, so keep this house warm for me,” Minseok tells him. He goes back to watching his TV show, changing the channel every few seconds because he can’t find one thing that he likes. Baekhyun stares at the screen.

“You’re leaving so abruptly,” he mumbles, but he regrets it when Minseok sighs irritatedly.

“And it wasn’t just as abrupt when you left Yeolie? Couldn’t even have told him?” Minseok spits, switching off the TV. “I haven’t said anything since you came back because I know you must be a little confused and dazed from all that has happened. But it’s been over a week and you still haven’t sorted your shit out yet. Would it hurt to just let Chanyeol know how you’re doing?”

Baekhyun looks down at his lap guiltily, quiet. “God damn, you’re 22 but you’re still as immature as the first time you joined Lunatic Hai.”

That strikes a nerve and Baekhyun looks up at him, annoyed as well. “Excuse me?”

“I said what I said,” Minseok says harshly. “Chanyeol deserves so much more than you.”

Baekhyun laughs bitterly, getting up from his seat. “Oh, and you’re so much better? Getting _tired_ of Overwatch, of us, and leaving us behind without a second thought after gaining popularity makes you so much better? So what are you doing now, huh? Playing another game? Gonna leave your new team as soon as you get bored too?”

“That’s low, Baekhyun. You of all people should know better,” Minseok warns, standing up as well. He points a finger at Baekhyun, glaring at him. “You _know_ I didn’t have a choice.”

Minseok did leave partially because he got sick of the game, but it was a lot of the criticism that got to him and made him leave Dynasty. Their Korean fans who had been following him since their Korean tournaments were unforgiving when he had to fill the role of one of their most valuable players who had left them. He had to learn how to play heroes that he didn’t specialise in, and because of that, his talent for other heroes went unrecognised, and all everyone could talk about was how terrible he was at the game — when he wasn’t.

Playing Overwatch felt like more like a chore and less like fun. People on the forums were making fun of him and attacking him like they knew him and how their team worked, even saying things like how the team would be much better off without him — and Minseok left because of all that pressure to be someone he cannot be. And now, the community is whining and asking for him to come back because truthfully, Dynasty isn’t doing well without him — but Minseok is perfectly happy with his new game.

“ _Boo_ fucking _hoo_ , the internet cafes are trash talking about me, time to leave LH without even trying,” Baekhyun mocks, and hurt flashes through Minseok’s eyes as he clenches his fists. And in that moment, he realises whatever he’s said was completely uncalled for. He tries to take it back, but it’s too late. “Wait, no. I’m sor-”

“Fuck you,” Minseok snarls, leaning in. “I expected you to be the most understanding, but you’re far from it.” He grabs his luggage handle and makes a move to leave, bumping hard into Baekhyun’s shoulder. He pauses, turning around and glowering at Baekhyun.

“Chanyeol’s been calling every night since you left and I have to talk to him till he falls asleep. If there’s one thing he can’t stand, it’s being by himself. You left him alone in a _foreign country_ without letting him know in advance. You know what kind of person Chanyeol is — he won’t even go to stay with Jongdae because he lives with Seulgi and he doesn’t want to intrude.  And he’s still too new at Seoul Dynasty to feel comfortable living at the dorm with the others. So fuck you. You don’t deserve him. I don’t even know what the _fuck_ he sees in you,” Minseok snaps, “what do you have that I don’t?”

Baekhyun doesn’t know, either. Why does Chanyeol like him, when he has someone like Minseok by his side? He stares at the ground, not knowing what to say. It’s a little late, but he realises that leaving Chanyeol alone in America probably wasn’t a good idea.

“If you don’t like him, make it clear so that he stops pining for you because _I_ love him and I don’t want to see him hurt like this.” Before Baekhyun gets to answer him, Minseok leaves the house, slamming the door.

He wonders if this is what Chanyeol felt like when he left — maybe even worse.

Definitely even worse.

 

+

 

When Chanyeol sleepily told Minseok he wished that he could be right there with him, he didn’t actually expect Minseok to come right to him.

And now he’s panicking because _holy shit I haven’t seen him in so long and I still feel awkward seeing him in person what do I do?_

Minseok didn’t even tell him he booked a flight to see him, only told him once he touched down in America and that he wants to meet Chanyeol. Chanyeol has asked him where he’ll be staying at, and Minseok told him he’ll be staying at the team house and Chanyeol can stay with him there. _You’ll be rooming with me and I’ll properly introduce you to the team,_ Minseok had said.

Chanyeol didn’t even have to think twice before agreeing, because living alone in an empty apartment sucks. He makes sure to switch everything off before leaving and put everything back in place and sends a quick text to Baekhyun to at least let him know that the house won’t be occupied. As much as he doesn’t want to talk to Baekhyun now, he’s doing it as his tenant. He keeps the text short and succinct, not wanting to talk to the man any more than that.

It’s their off day before another match tomorrow, so everyone is either out or resting. When he reaches the team house in the afternoon, Minseok is nowhere in sight. He goes to the second floor where the rooms are and looks into the unoccupied rooms. Sure enough, Minseok is in the room towards the end of the corridor, and Chanyeol smiles at the sight of Minseok sprawled on a bed, snoring.

He leaves his luggage by Minseok’s and sits on the other bed, texting the group chat to see if anyone else wants lunch because he wants to cook. Most of them are already getting lunch outside, and Chanyeol knows Jongdae and Sehun won’t be in because he saw their texts earlier in the chat, so it’s just him and Minseok. He stares at his best friend, wondering if it would be a good idea to wake him up, but he decides against it because it’s already midnight in Korean time, so Minseok would be extremely tired.

It’s just him for lunch today.  


When Chanyeol comes back from buying groceries because he’s used up the ones left in the dorm, he’s surprised to see Minseok waiting for him in the living hall, watching some American sitcom with a few other team members. It’s already evening and everyone’s back just in time for dinner. “Hi,” he breathes, his heart beating loudly. He’s kind of nervous — this is the first time he’s seen Minseok since the man confessed to him, and it feels weird being in the same room as him.

“Hey,” Minseok says, smiling at him. Chanyeol returns it and brings the groceries to the kitchen, Minseok getting up to help him.

“You should’ve woken me up to go with you,” Minseok chides, taking the bags from Chanyeol’s grasp. Their fingers brush against each other’s, and Chanyeol instinctively retracts his hand, cheeks pinking.

“I didn’t want to, you must have been tired,” Chanyeol mutters, “besides, the grocery store is nearby. I could handle it.” They unpack the groceries in silence, with Minseok occasionally telling him where to put the items.

The last time he actually spent time with Minseok like this was back in Korea, before he left. They were both on the way home from a long day together, and Minseok _just_ felt like it was a good time to confess his _undying love_ for Chanyeol, to which Chanyeol nervously laughed and said okay. And Minseok didn’t do anything either. _I just wanted to get it off my chest,_ he had said, _I don’t expect anything from you._

After that day, Chanyeol kept making up excuses to avoid seeing Minseok. He tried his best to be nonchalant about the entire issue, but it was tough knowing that Minseok harbours feelings for him. He was hyper-aware of everything Minseok said or did, to the point where it was lowkey uncomfortable. They still talked, but Chanyeol had already built up a wall around him, careful not to lead Minseok on. It doesn’t feel like Minseok is his best friend anymore — he just seems like another admirer.

When Chanyeol left, Minseok wanted to send him off, but Chanyeol insisted that he stayed home because the flight was too late. Minseok probably figured that Chanyeol didn’t really want to see him in person, anyway.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Minseok asks, putting a finger to Chanyeol’s forehead as if wanting erasing the crease. Chanyeol leans back a little, startled by the sudden gesture. It isn’t unusual for skinship between the two of them, but ever since the confession, every little move by Minseok has made him antsy.

“Ah, it’s nothing,” Chanyeol replies, giving him a tiny smile. “Are they ordering in or shall I make us something?”

“Oh, yeah. They’re ordering pizza. I already told them the flavour you want,” Minseok tells him, grinning. His fingers circle around Chanyeol’s wrist, and he gently tugs on it, pulling Chanyeol along with him. “Come on, let’s catch up.”

Chanyeol jerks his hand away and gently pushes Minseok to the living hall where the team is. “It’s okay, I kinda wanna rest. You should catch up with the team.” His lips curl up into a small smile, and he doesn’t give Minseok a chance to retort before he hurries back to their room.

Back in the room, he heaves a long sigh. Being around Minseok still makes him a little… anxious. He doesn’t know how to describe the feeling of seeing someone who loves you, and not being able to reciprocate those feelings. It’s even more awkward for Chanyeol because he _did_ like Minseok for a while back then, and knowing that Minseok likes him now has him wondering if they would’ve been something if Minseok confessed then.

Eye contact with Minseok now leaves him flustered and he doesn’t know why. He kinda wishes Minseok never told him that he likes him in the first place, because even though nothing has changed for Minseok, so much has changed for Chanyeol. It’s hard for him to act normally around Minseok while knowing the man has feelings for him.

He shakes his head to dispel the thoughts, slapping himself lightly on the cheek. “Snap out of it, Park Chanyeol,” he mutters, crouching down as he unzips his luggage. As he unpacks, he plays a song to get himself in the mood. He throws all his clothes onto the bed and grabs the hangers from the closet, getting started.

When he’s almost done with unpacking, his phone pings and he glances at it. _sdbaek started a live video. Watch it before it ends!_

“At this hour?” Chanyeol says to himself, surprised that Baekhyun is awake so early — it’s early morning in Seoul, after all. Curious, he clicks on the notification. The music fades out and his screen is instantly filled with the image Baekhyun’s sleepy face.

A smile unconsciously forms on Chanyeol’s lips, and he sits back on the bed with his phone resting upright on his tummy. Turns out that Baekhyun is just giving his followers a life update — telling them what’s he done over the past week. He seems healthy, Chanyeol notes to himself. Time in Seoul has been doing him some good. But it also hurts to watch this, because Chanyeol knows that if it weren’t for whatever that happened, Baekhyun would be telling him all these instead of telling his Instagram followers. Baekhyun still hasn’t texted him since the _sorry_ , and Chanyeol hasn’t replied either.

He’s about to stop watching after half an hour or so, but he hears someone talking in the background and he falters. He turns the volume up and his eyebrows furrow when he doesn’t recognise the voice. It’s a girl, and Baekhyun is looking away from the screen, turning it to the side so the audience can’t see who he’s talking to.

 _“...like that. Breakfast is ready, darling.”_ Chanyeol’s frown deepens. Baekhyun yells out a _thank you babe_ and that he’ll be out soon, then he looks to the screen. He apologises for the short live video and hastily exits, and Chanyeol knows everyone watching is just as confused as he is. Who does the voice belong to?

“Hey, dinner’s here…” Minseok’s voice rings out, trailing off. “What’s wrong?” He sits down beside Chanyeol, worried. It hurts, that Baekhyun’s in Korea with his girlfriend and Chanyeol is here lusting over him. Chanyeol sniffles and his mouth trembles — he can feel the tears welling up in his eyes and he blinks them back because god damn it, he doesn’t want to cry over Baekhyun _again._

Minseok looks at his phone and sees the _Live video has ended_ screen, and his expression morphs into one of anger as he pulls Chanyeol towards him and kisses the top of his head. “Don’t think about him,” Minseok says softly, trying not to let the anger seep into his voice. Something must’ve happened during Baekhyun’’s live video for Chanyeol to be sobbing like this.

“S-she sounds really p-pretty,” Chanyeol says, snivelling. “He could- could’ve just t-told me he has a girl- girlfriend.”

Minseok doesn’t say anything to make Chanyeol feel better because he doesn’t know what’s made him think that way, but he pats Chanyeol on the back in attempt to comfort him. He rests his head atop of Chanyeol’s as the younger buries his face in Minseok’s chest. “Don’t cry over someone like him,” he murmurs, pulling back to look at Chanyeol in the eye. “We don’t know what exactly happened, so don’t worry too much, ok?”

Minseok kisses his forehead as he brushes Chanyeol’s tears away with the pads of his thumbs. Chanyeol doesn’t know what the hell prompts Minseok to lean in and capture his lips in a kiss, but he does. It startles him, but Chanyeol finds himself kissing back, his mind in a haze; a little lost and deprived of attention and love. It’s sweet and desperate and it feels like Minseok is trying to convey his love for him, feelings he cannot accept.

And just as suddenly, he pulls back and pushes Minseok away, breathing heavily and no longer weeping. The man falls back on his palms, the sadness etched on his face, and Chanyeol regrets everything. From high school, to Overwatch, to Baekhyun, everything.

“That’s not- I don’t-” Chanyeol sighs frustratedly, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, and Minseok looks even more hurt. He can’t even be mad at Minseok because he doesn’t know what to feel about the kiss. He knows one thing — that he wasn’t disgusted by it.

“I love you, I really do, but-” Chanyeol fumbles with his words, sniffling. “Please don’t make me choose,” he begs, wiping his tears away and looking down at the phone.

“I know,” Minseok mutters, looking down as well. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Please don’t ever do that again,” Chanyeol forces the words out of his mouth, his tears drying up on his face. _You’re an idiot, Park Chanyeol,_ he thinks, _you have a man right in front of you who loves you so dearly and yet you’re pining for a man who’s perfectly fine without you._

“I won’t,” Minseok promises. He smiles weakly at Chanyeol, but their eyes don’t meet. “I’m sorry.”

Chanyeol wants to say it’s okay, but he remains silent and they sit there quietly until Minseok stands up and dusts himself off. “Well,” he says, sighing. “It’s dinner time. Let’s go.” He hesitantly offers Chanyeol a hand, and is about to take it back when Chanyeol grabs his hand and pulls himself up.

“I’m starving,” Chanyeol says aloud, his voice wobbling as he attempts to lighten the mood. He stretches as he walks in front of Minseok, trying his hardest not to make the atmosphere any more awkward than it is, and he’s grateful when Minseok plays along.

Minseok goes ahead first while Chanyeol freshens up in the bathroom. No one seems to notice the obvious tension between the both of them, and Chanyeol just accepts it as they start to eat. The team asks Minseok many questions, and he’s all smiles when he answers them.

“Why is an old man like you living here with us?” Sehun grumbles. “You better not wake all of us up at 9am just for breakfast again.”

“Excuse me, I’m merely a couple of years older than _you_ , the youngest. And I’m not in Seoul Dynasty anymore, but we’re still in the same company,” Minseok explains, “and the management gave me permission to stay here for the time being. So too bad for you, you’re stuck here with me.”

“How long are you gonna be in America for?” Someone else asks, and Minseok takes a moment to bite on his slice of pizza. Chanyeol looks down at his food in silence, pretending to be uninterested.

“I won’t be here long,” Minseok answers in a small voice. “Probably less than a week.”

“That doesn’t even give us enough time to catch up when we have so many upcoming matches!” Jongdae grumbles, and Minseok shoots him an apologetic smile. “I’m not here for a good time, I’m just here to see-” he backtracks, “-see how you guys are doing.”

Jongdae looks like he wants to say something and he looks at Chanyeol, and the latter raises an eyebrow, just daring him to say anything. Jongdae settles for silence instead.

When they’re done eating, the others suggest a movie marathon since they’re tired of playing games, and Minseok politely declines, opting to sleep early instead. Chanyeol silently looks on, but he doesn’t follow his best friend up. It’s only after one movie that Chanyeol decides he’s tired too and goes back to the room, Minseok already sleeping soundly.

And he knows he shouldn’t do this even though they used to do it often before Minseok confessed — he shouldn’t lead the man on any longer — but he crawls onto Minseok’s bed and inserts himself into the man’s embrace, closing his eyes as he falls asleep with a quiet heart for the first time in a week.

He doesn’t hear his phone ping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GUYS I recently found out that you can see your story stats on ao3 and we have 100 subs and 50+ comment threads for this fic!!! that’s so cool aaaa thank you all for your support ♥️♥️
> 
> Edit: OMG IM SO SORRY???? JSJSJAJA their happiness is coming soon I swear lol


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is what happened in the previous chapter, but the baekhyun ver.

Baekhyun may have cried a little when Minseok left.

Now alone in the empty house, he wonders if he should even continue staying there. Minseok doesn’t even like him — so why should he stay? He was hoping for someone he could eventually talk to about his problems, and he was hoping that someone could be Minseok.

Minseok has always been someone he looks up to, someone whose opinion he values. Even though Baekhyun said those words to him out of spite and anger, he _knew_ he was wrong the moment those words left his mouth. Him of all people should’ve known better than to accuse Minseok of leaving them for his own sake when the man left for _them_. So that he wouldn’t tarnish their reputation any further.

But Baekhyun fucked up again and made Minseok mad — and Minseok basically told him he would fight him for Chanyeol — so going to him for advice _on_ Chanyeol? Not gonna happen. He doesn’t even know how he managed to stay a week here with Minseok acting cold towards him most of the time.

Packing his stuff back into his small luggage, he sighs regretfully. He shouldn’t have asked in the first place. He should’ve just sucked it up and gone home to his empty apartment because it wouldn’t have made a difference.

When he reaches his apartment, he stops in front of it and groans. He doesn’t want to go in, but he has to. It’s cold and lonely and brings back bad memories of his time in Korea, but it will have to do for now.

He decides to cook up a meal that Chanyeol has taught him before, but he opens the fridge to realise that he needs ingredients for it. _Looks like I have to do some shopping_.

He doesn’t know how long he’s expected to stay here, but he doesn’t plan on staying for long. One week feels like more than enough for him to recuperate, and he doesn’t like doing nothing. He’s itching to leave already—and he won’t deny that it’s because Minseok is going to see Chanyeol.

What if Chanyeol decides that he likes his best friend instead? What if Chanyeol decides that he never actually liked Baekhyun? He doesn’t want to think about those possibilities, but they’re already ingrained in his mind and it hurts to know he might be replaced.

 _But isn’t that what you wanted?_ Baekhyun sighs. It _was_ , but now, he’s not so sure. Can he really handle seeing Chanyeol with someone else? Chanyeol, doing the things he used to do with Baekhyun, with someone else?

He thinks about it all the way to the supermarket.

 

Baekhyun’s already gotten everything he needs, but he’s starting to regret wanting to cook because he’s fucking starving. He doesn’t think he can wait to get home to eat, and he’s about to turn to get instant noodles instead when someone calls out for him.

“Baekhyun! Is that you?” The cashier exclaims in disbelief, her eyes going wide. Baekhyun looks up at her as he cocks his head to the side, puzzled. She seems familiar, but…

“Oh my god, are you Joohyun?” Baekhyun asks as she scans his items, and she nods enthusiastically. “Long time no see. You look a little different.”

“Maybe it’s the absence of glasses?” She says, gesturing to her eyes. She goes back to scanning Baekhyun’s items and bags them for him, smiling at him. “Anyway, last I heard, you were pursuing an e-sports career. How are you? Your total is 33,890 won, by the way. That’s a lot of food you got there.”

Baekhyun reaches into his pocket and passes her a couple of crumpled notes, and he shrugs. “Same old. I’m still in the e-sports scene, but I’m currently based overseas. I came back for a short break. How about you?”

He looks behind to see if he’s holding up the line, but there’s no one in the supermarket except them and the other workers, so he sets his things aside and leans against the counter. Joohyun sits down and rests her cheek on her palm, sighing.

“I’m waiting for my last semester of uni to start. Nothing much has changed. I missed you, though. Could’ve kept in touch, you idiot! I thought we were close,” she pouts, looking really upset. Baekhyun feels guilty for not keeping in touch even though he’s always considered her to be one of his closest friends. “We were,” Baekhyun reassures her, looking down at the ground. “Still could be, if you’d let me.”

“Tell you what. I get off at 6pm, we can go for dinner then. That okay with you?” Joohyun asks, getting up. Baekhyun turns to see someone walking to their counter, and he grabs his bags.

“I’ll see you later, then,” Baekhyun tells her as he makes a move. “I’ll come back here.”

 

Baekhyun ends up making the instant noodles he found in his kitchen cabinet.

 

+

 

They decide to go to a nearby restaurant for some chicken and beer. Joohyun leads the way and fills the silence with updates on her life, things that Baekhyun missed out on after they lost contact, and current affairs. Baekhyun listens quietly, nodding his head as she talks.

“What about you, dar- Baek?” Joohyun slips, and Baekhyun looks at her with a small smile, happy that Joohyun still feels comfortable with calling him pet names. They used to do that a lot when they were in high school as a habit, and Joohyun would laugh whenever people asked if they were together. How could they be a couple when Joohyun has always liked girls?

“It’s okay. You can call me that, _babe_ ,” he teases her, and he adds in a small voice, “thank you.”

Joohyun cocks her head to the side, a smile playing on her lips. “What for?” She asks, stuffing her face with food. Baekhyun knows by the tone of her voice that she already knows why he’s thanking her, but he answers her anyway.

“For being so comfortable around me even after so long,” Baekhyun says, shrugging. He picks out the best parts of the chicken and places them on her plate. “It’s been more than two years. I would expect you to be awkward and wary, or something like that, but it feels like we’ve never grown apart at all.”

“It’s _only_ been a little over two years,” she muses, chewing on her food. “Okay, not to sound like a creep, but I saw you in the news a couple of times. E-sports is big here, you know that.”

“Oh,” Baekhyun mutters, touched that she’s looked out for him. “Thank you,” he says again, but this time with more sincerity. He places a hand over Joohyun’s, and her jaw drops. His smile falters and he thinks maybe he’s crossed a line even though it’s something they used to do all the time.

“Darling, I’m still very much gay. I have a girlfriend,” she seriously says to him, but she doesn’t retract her hand—and Baekhyun realises she’s just messing around with him. For the first time in a while, Baekhyun laughs heartily. “Introduce her to me sometime.”

“Oh, I’m kidding. I _do_ have someone I’m interested in, though,” Joohyun replies, blushing a little.

“Well, introduce her to me sometime,” he repeats, chuckling. He looks at the time and clicks his tongue in annoyance. It’s late and he should probably send Joohyun home, but he doesn’t want the night to end. He’s wondering if he should ask Joohyun to stay over, but she beats him to it.

“Can I crash at your house tonight?” She asks, eyes pleading. Baekhyun pretends to think about it even though he already knows his answer, and she pouts. “Of course,” Baekhyun says, and her eyes twinkle with happiness.

It feels like they were never apart.

 

“How the hell is your house still so clean?” Joohyun asks when they reach the apartment. It’s mostly empty because he never understood the need to decorate the place, and he shrugs to himself.

“Uh, housekeeping? I hired someone to do it every month while I was away,” he explains, grabbing two bottles of milk from the fridge. He tosses a bottle to Joohyun, who catches it with one hand. They plop down on the couch, and Joohyun asks the question that he’s been dreading to hear. “So, any love interests?”

“Um…” Baekhyun considers lying, but he knows he needs Joohyun’s opinion on this.

“I heard things about a certain Park Chanyeol,” she prods, swirling the bottle of milk. Baekhyun shoots up, turning to her to see that she’s smirking at him. “How the _hell_ do you hear about shit like this?”

“I follow Overwatch TMZ accounts,” she shrugs, her smile growing wider. “I check up on you every now and then. I’m basically your number one fan. Got into the game, by the way. Because of you. I’m pretty bad at it though.”

“Wow, I feel like a shitty friend,” Baekhyun breathes, and Joohyun places a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “It’s okay. I know how you’re like. So tell me more about this Park Chanyeol. I know him, don’t I?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun grumbles, sinking in his seat and crossing his arms like a petulant child. “It’s Park Chanyeol from high school. Long story short, I like him, and he says he likes me as well.” Joohyun observes him before speaking up.

“So what’s the problem?”

“The problem _is_ ,” Baekhyun pauses, thinking. What _is_ the problem? “...is that we can’t be together,” he finishes lamely.

“So the problem is you,” Joohyun says knowingly as she slowly nods her head. Baekhyun splutters in disbelief, but he isn’t offended, and Joohyun continues. “The problem has always been you. We’ve been through this,” she adds. “Come on, tell me the whole story. I’ll help you.”

 

By the time Baekhyun is done recounting the past events, Joohyun is already yawning and struggling to stay awake. He sighs and carries her into the guest room he prepared, tucking her in like they used to do when they were younger.

They were pretty close back then, but circumstances had separated them and they slowly lost contact with each other. Baekhyun has never been one to hold onto things when he doesn’t have to, so even though letting go was hard, he never looked back. But now that he knows Joohyun was always behind him, cheering him on in the darkness, he feels guilty for not doing the same for her. “I’m so sorry, babe,” he mumbles, gently patting her head. Sorry isn’t even enough to express his remorse.

Even though Joohyun is back here by his side, he goes to sleep with a heavy heart.

 

+

 

Baekhyun wakes up to the sound of clattering pots and pans. He groans loudly and stretches in bed, confused at first as to why someone else is in his home—and he jolts awake when he remembers Joohyun slept over. “Babe, what are you doing?” Baekhyun yells out, yawning.

“Making breakfast,” comes the reply, and a lot of clanking. It’s too noisy to go back to bed, but strangely enough, he isn’t too tired. Grabbing his phone from the bedside, he whines when he sees that it isn’t even 9 in the morning yet. He clears his notifications and his heart sinks a little when there are no new messages from Chanyeol. He wants to reach out to the man, but he’s afraid Chanyeol wouldn’t want to talk to him.

He wonders if Chanyeol would want to hear about his week, but he figures it’d be awkward for him to suddenly start talking to Chanyeol, so he decides to do a live video on Instagram and pray that Chanyeol will watch it. It’d be nice to update his followers, anyway.

About half an hour later, Joohyun is done with breakfast and Baekhyun has momentarily forgotten the main reason he’s doing the broadcast in the first place. Joohyun calls out to him to get his breakfast, and he automatically gives the same old reply in response. “Thank you babe, I’ll be out in a bit,” he shouts.

When he stops the live video, he belatedly realises that he and Joohyun called each other pet names _live._ “Fuck,” he groans, slapping a hand to his face. Even more explaining to do.

“Joohyun.”

“Yes?”

“I was live when you called me darling and I called you babe,” Baekhyun says glumly, stabbing at his pancakes.

“And?” Joohyun continues to chew on her pancakes, not seeing anything wrong with it.

“Chanyeol might have been _watching_ ,” Baekhyun answers exasperatedly, looking up at her. “And my fans might get the wrong idea.”

“Just explain yourself later,” she says coolly, and Baekhyun groans. “Everyone’s gonna think it’s just an excuse, and knowing Chanyeol, he’s just gonna assume the worst until I _personally_ explain it to him.”

“Then do it,” she says, frowning. “What’s the problem? You never know until you try, darling. As for the fans, if they don’t believe you, it’s their problem. What matters now is what Chanyeol thinks, isn’t it?”

Sounds of their cutlery scraping against the plates fill the room before someone speaks up again.

“Do you know what your problem is?” Joohyun powers on, putting her fork down. Baekhyun tilts his head, confused. She sighs and looks at Baekhyun. “You’re too closed off. You’re too pessimistic. You don’t have enough confidence in yourself _and_ the people around you. And sometimes you’re just too fucking selfish.”

“Wow, is it Insult Baekhyun Day?” He asks, a tinge of irritation seeping into his voice. He didn’t ask Joohyun to come here just to point out his flaws. “That was so out of the blue and uncalled for.”

“No, but listen,” Joohyun insists, leaning forward. “Do you _admit_ it? That you’re everything I just said? You’re a pretty rational person, Baekhyun. You should know what I mean.”

“No more darling?” Baekhyun replies, ignoring her question. He knows what she means, and deep down he knows that she’s right — but he’s hurt that someone so dear to him would think of him this way.

“It’s too early for this talk,” he says before Joohyun gets the chance to say a word. His plate is empty, and he’s just waiting for Joohyun to stop talking so he can put it in the sink without feeling like an ass for leaving the table. “Can we talk about this later?”

“Every minute you waste now is more time given to Minseok to make Chanyeol like him. Do you want that?” Joohyun challenges, crossing her arms. Baekhyun retrieves her plate and cutleries, getting up from his seat.

“Can I _at least_ take a bath before we talk about this?”

Joohyun reluctantly waves him off and he scurries to his bedroom, relieved. Grabbing his phone and clothes, he hops into the bathroom and sinks into the water he prepared before breakfast, sighing contentedly.

When he comes out nearly an hour later with his torso wrapped in a towel, Joohyun is lying on his bed and using her phone. “Babe!”

She looks up at him questioningly, and Baekhyun pinches his nose bridge, frowning. “Do you mind?” He asks, gesturing to his covered half.

Joohyun smirks at him and looks on, not moving an inch. “Go on. There’s nothing for me to see,” she says, eyeing his hips. “Nothing I’m interested in.”

“Eyes up here, you twat,” Baekhyun grumbles, and Joohyun laughs as she turns away. Baekhyun walks to his luggage and empties it, searching for a particular shirt. He smiles triumphantly when he sees it — it’s a little too big on him, but he likes it because it’s Chanyeol’s. The man doesn’t have to know, but Baekhyun may have taken one or two of his shirts.

“So,” Joohyun drawls, rolling on her back after she’s certain Baekhyun is dressed. “Chanyeol’s gotten a lot cuter since high school. I mean, he was always cute, but you know. Cute _and_ hot now. Even I can tell, bet he’s-”

“Joohyun.”

“-yes?”

“Stop talking,” Baekhyun bemoans, falling on the bed. Joohyun scoots to the side and sits up, pulling her knees to her chest. Baekhyun enjoys the silence while it lasts, but it doesn’t take long before Joohyun starts speaking again.

“So… about earlier,” she says slowly, facing Baekhyun. “What I was trying to say is: I think maybe opening up would help you. Right now, it just seems like the both of you are lacking basic communication. And I wasn’t trying to say that you are selfish in a _chaotic evil_ way — it’s just… you keep trying to protect yourself from getting hurt, but don’t you see that you’re hurting Chanyeol like this?”

Baekhyun blinks at her, processing her words. “I mean… I guess you’re right,” he admits, looking back on his actions. The first time he subconsciously realised that was when Chanyeol approached him at the park — now that he thinks of it, there wasn’t any real reason for Baekhyun to be such an ass to him.

“You also said you’re convinced Chanyeol doesn’t like you for _you_ , and only likes you because you’re the only gay person he knows,” Joohyun states, and Baekhyun’s eyes dart around the room, embarrassed.

“Well I now know that’s not true,” he tries, sitting up, but Joohyun shakes her head at him disappointedly. “You should never have assumed that in the first place,” she tells him, wagging a finger at him, “when you assume, you’re making an-”

“It’s 2018. That line’s getting old, darling,” Baekhyun cuts in, chuckling. “Okay _fine,_ so maybe Chanyeol does like me for me…”

“But?” Joohyun prods impatiently. Baekhyun groans and covers his face. “I don’t know okay? There’s just a nagging feeling that we won’t last. But I want us to,” he mumbles. “I’d rather not get attached to someone who’s gonna leave. I’m not good enough for him and he’s gonna realise it sooner or later.”

“You weren’t like this before, Baekhyun,” Joohyun gently reminds him, a frown forming on her face. “Do you think that maybe it’s what happened before that made you feel this way?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh just- you know- back in high school, you liked this guy, remember? And he said some nasty things to you when he found out…” she trails off, unsure if she should remind Baekhyun of his past.

“Oh, that,” he says, waving her off. His eyes are hardened with annoyance and his posture is rigid, but he doesn’t seem to notice it himself. Joohyun chooses not to say anything and waits for Baekhyun to go on. “So I liked him. So he said some mean stuff. But I don’t think it was that big of a deal for it to have such a huge impact on me.”

“It may not be an important thing to you now, but what about 16 year old Baekhyun? What did he think? Do you seriously think it didn’t change you? Because _I_ had to witness my own best friend change overnight just because of a stupid, _stupid_ boy. Do you have any idea how much that affected you and the people around you? Do you seriously not know?” Joohyun fumes. Baekhyun blinks at her in shock, mouth slightly parted.

“I never knew you felt that way,” he says lowly, looking down at his lap. “I didn’t think much of it at first, but I know I had changed somehow. I just didn’t think anyone would notice, I’m sorry.”

“That’s because you were too busy trying to become a better person for someone who didn’t even want you around,” she murmurs. “I’m sorry. I was annoyed. I shouldn’t have yelled at you.”

“It’s okay. We all need to let it out sometimes,” he replies, smiling at her. But his smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, and Joohyun’s heart sinks.

“You’re over him, right?”

“Obviously,” Baekhyun snorts, rolling his eyes. “Did I really change that much? I don’t remember.”

Joohyun laughs bitterly and scoffs. “You became really picky about the people you hung out with, picking out everyone’s inherent flaws. You started talking less too, and you were gloomy a lot more often. And you became a lot more critical of yourself, a lot more competitive and-”

“Don’t you dare say it.”

“-vain,” she finishes, grinning. “Although now, I would say _self-conscious_.”

Baekhyun hums in thought, a finger to his chin as he mulls over Joohyun’s words. He never realised how much he’d change over the years, but now that Joohyun has mentioned it, he finds himself agreeing. Maybe that‘s the reason why he belittles himself. “Do you really think that’s it?”

She shrugs. “I’m just trying to come up with reasons why you’re acting like this. Maybe that’s the reason, maybe it isn’t — but the one thing you need to know is that you _are_ good enough for him. You’re good enough for anyone who cares for you. Why else would they like you?”

“I don’t know,” Baekhyun admits. He really doesn’t know. He doesn’t know why anyone would like him, but he doesn’t know why anyone would dislike him either. What’s the point in everything he’s done so far? Why did he try so hard to push Chanyeol away when all he wants is Chanyeol by his side? Why was he so adamant that Chanyeol wouldn’t want him, even though it was clear as day that Chanyeol did?

“I’m just saying,” Joohyun drawls, “do you really want to see Chanyeol with someone else?”

 _No way,_ Baekhyun immediately thinks. He doesn’t.

“But darling… I know you’re over him, but it doesn’t seem like you’re over _it_ ,” Joohyun says quietly. Sure, whatever he felt for the guy has long faded, but what about the words he said to Baekhyun? “Maybe instead of running away from Chanyeol, you should give him the chance to show you you’re worth more than you think you are.”

She wraps her fingers around Baekhyun’s arm, tugging him close. Normally, Baekhyun would joke and say she’s too close for comfort, but the consolation is needed now. He sighs and leans against her shoulder as he thinks of buying an airplane ticket.

 

They spend the rest of the day doing nothing. The sun had set a long time ago, the sky a lovely shade of dark blue with a tinge of stars adorning the night. Baekhyun can’t help but take a photo by the window, wondering if Chanyeol would like this.

Joohyun stays on her phone the entire time, giggling every five minutes while Baekhyun searches online for a last minute flight back to America. He hasn’t told Joohyun he’s planning on leaving soon, but he plans on taking her with him just for a bit, if she wants.

“Babe,” he calls, “do you wanna maybe go to America for a holiday?”

“All expenses paid? Yeah, sure,” she replies, not bothering to look up at him. She’s lying on her chest on the couch, swinging her legs up and down as she laughs once more at her phone.

“What the hell are you laughing at? You can’t watch funny shit on your own and not share them with me,” Baekhyun whines.

“It’s nothing,” she tells him, looking up. “Anyway, why do you ask?”

Baekhyun stares at her glumly before giving up on trying to get an answer from her. Once Joohyun decides not to talk about something, it’s hard to get it out of her. “I’m looking for flights to America now, and I was thinking you could come along for a short getaway. No expenses paid for.”

“I have to use _my_ own money?” She asks incredulously, as if appalled that Baekhyun even said that. But Baekhyun knows if she does come along — and she will — her parents would be the one paying for everything. They’re wealthy, anyway.

“Obviously.”

“Okay, I’m in,” she says, “but only because I know you need me as your wingman. Or woman. Whatever.”

“T-that’s not true! Excuse me!” Baekhyun fucking stutters, his cheeks pinking when he realises his plan has been found out, and Joohyun guffaws.

“Sure it isn’t. But don’t worry, I’ll help you either way. And the first thing you have to do right now is not buy a plane ticket — you should be holding onto Chanyeol.”

Baekhyun frowns, not following. Joohyun rolls her eyes and sits up. “Send him a text.”

“I already did,” he mutters, “this morning.”

“No you didn’t.”

“Yes I did. I asked him how he’s doing,” Baekhyun insists, and Joohyun rolls her eyes again. Baekhyun wants to gouge her eyes out so she would stop doing that.

“You’re a goddamn loser. Send something else to let him know you’re still thinking of him. It doesn’t have to be flowery or cheesy, it just has to be sincere,” she urges him. “Go to sleep afterwards. I’ll handle the tickets.”

He stares at his phone for a long time before typing a sentence and hitting the send button, and he tosses his phone aside before he can even think about it or regret.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back from the dead! I swear, there's baekyeol content next chapter. if I still follow my original plan, that is. lol. tell me what y'all think!
> 
> 180819: Next (and most likely final) update at the end of the month!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: uhhh just a lot of swearing, also slight mentions of alcohol, UNBETA'D (for now)
> 
> Long author’s note at the end! Would be nice if u guys read it. Sorry it took so long. Birthday gift to y’all xx

When Minseok wakes up, the first thing he notices is that Chanyeol is cuddled up against him. He smiles at that, but his smile fades when he remembers that Chanyeol doesn’t like him romantically. He likes Baekhyun. He looks away and frowns. He doesn’t understand why Chanyeol chose Baekhyun over him, but he knows feelings aren’t exactly controllable.

And Minseok can’t help but wonder what’s going on with Baekhyun, because from all the teasing he’s seen in the group chat and everything that Chanyeol has told him, it truly doesn’t sound like a one-sided romance.

Seconds later, Chanyeol’s phone lights up with a notification and Minseok looks at it out of curiosity. The message preview is private, but Minseok can see the sender’s name — it’s only one letter, but he knows it’s Baekhyun.

A little angry and jealous, Minseok unlocks Chanyeol’s phone with the same password he uses for everything and reads the messages.

 _B_  
_22:03_ How are you?

_Today_

 

 _B_  
_09:00_   I miss you.  
_< Photo attached>_ I know you miss  
_09:00_ the moon in Seoul.

“Really? That’s all you’ve got?” Minseok mutters to himself incredulously. He has half the mind to delete the messages. If he’s being honest, Baekhyun’s a decent guy and as Chanyeol’s best friend, Minseok would have approved of him. But Minseok  _just_ had to hear about what happened between him and Chanyeol, and he wasn’t very pleased to know Baekhyun essentially led Chanyeol on only to break his heart.

He hates seeing Chanyeol like this and if Baekhyun isn’t going to redeem himself, he doesn’t deserve someone like Chanyeol. Maybe he’s doing for himself, maybe he’s doing it for Chanyeol, but Minseok doesn’t approve of Baekhyun’s ways.

He’s about to delete the messages when he feels Chanyeol stirring beside him. He hastily exits the app and locks his phone, putting it back where it was before, and turns to give Chanyeol a smile. “Good morning,” Minseok says to him. His fingers are itching to brush the hair away from Chanyeol’s face and kiss him, but he retracts his hand and stands up. Chanyeol doesn’t want that.

“Morning,” Chanyeol yawns, kicking the blanket off his body. He gets up and wordlessly makes his way to the bathroom, rubbing at his eyes. They have a match in the afternoon so scrims will start in a bit, and Chanyeol wonders if Minseok will be watching the match.

Once he’s done washing up, he walks to the kitchen to see if anyone is awake yet. The smell of toast wafts through the air and he hums in delight, quickening his steps.

“...enough? I see. That’s fine with me. As long as you think you’re ready.” Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at the voice, not sure if he should interrupt. Coach Jinki is on the phone and speaking pretty softly, so Chanyeol assumes he shouldn’t be listening in.

He clears his throat to make his presence known and the coach turns around, startled, but he waves Chanyeol into the kitchen as he smiles at him. “Yes yes, that’s all right. I’ll see you soon. Have a safe trip. Bye,” the coach ends the call and sets his phone down, sighing.

“Do you want to play in the match later?”

“W-what? I don’t think I’m ready…” Chanyeol stammers, not expecting that first thing in the morning. He pulls out a chair and sits down, deep in thought. The coach chuckles and passes him his share of breakfast, sitting down with him.

“Don’t worry, if you want, you can sub in for Jongdae for a game or two instead of playing the entire match. We just wanna see how well you do under pressure,” Jinki tells him kindly as he hands Chanyeol the Nutella spread. Chanyeol eyes it warily, and Jinki rolls his eyes.

“It’s not the same jar.”

“Just checking.”

 

+

 

Chanyeol ends up agreeing to sub for a match halfway through their game, but mainly because they don’t have much of a choice. Jongdae isn’t playing well and the coach doesn’t want to take any chances with him, so Chanyeol’s abilities will finally be put to the test. He tries to calm himself down by taking deep breaths, but playing on stage amongst the pros is really different from casual streaming and ladder climbing.

He knows Minseok is watching them, and that makes him even more nervous. Minseok, who once was the leader of this team, is here to see how well he’s doing. It doesn’t even matter that Minseok is his best friend—the criticism will come if needed.

Chanyeol tries not to think too much about how he’s the one on stage instead of Baekhyun, his fingers gripping tightly onto the mouse. There are expectations of him that he needs to meet, coaches and fans to please. He can’t let a single person distract him from doing well.

Their team wins the match, but Chanyeol suspects it’s only because the other team hasn’t prepared well enough and were caught off guard by the change in their roster. He winces at the loud sounds of the fans cheering as they bid their opponents goodbye — it certainly felt and sounded different when he was the one cheering on the sidelines.

Sighing as he trudges off the stage, he tries not to let his unhappiness show but it’s proven to be useless when Sehun comes up to him and gives him a small smile. He knows the younger has some questions, but he’s surprised when Sehun doesn’t ask anything. “Cheer up,” is all Sehun says before jogging away to catch up with someone from the opposing team.

He’s proud. Happy, ecstatic that they won the match and that  _he_ made a difference in the game, but there’s a voice at the back of his head that won’t stop reminding him that Byun Baekhyun still exists and that he would have to deal with that sooner or later.

“Let’s meet at the team house at 6. I have something to announce but I’m sure none of you want to hear that now,” Jinki says to the few of them who stayed behind. Chanyeol nods once and makes a move to join Minseok who’s standing by the door, waiting.

“You did well,” Minseok comments as they start to walk out. Chanyeol stuffs his hands in his pockets, smiling bashfully at him.

“I was okay, I guess,” Chanyeol replies, looking back at the now dispersed team. He didn’t do as well as he wanted to, but he did good enough, so he tells himself not to think about it for now. Minseok leads them out of the arena and tells him what he’s planned for the day, but Chanyeol can’t stop thinking about a certain Byun Baekhyun.

 

+

 

“Kibum will be leaving us for LAV in a few days,” the coaches announce when everyone has gathered, and the room goes silent, a palpable tension in the air.

Chanyeol doesn’t know how to react because he doesn’t really know Kibum — all he knows is that Kibum has always been one of their original members. He glances around to see the other members’ reactions. Most of them look shocked, but Kibum looks unfazed.

“That’s sudden,” Jongdae pipes up, sitting upright. But Kibum doesn’t seem to agree.

“We talked about this a month or so back,” Kibum confesses softly, toying with the hem of his shirt. “The coaches knew I wanted a transfer to LAV. I just got lucky.”

“You’ve never told us about this,” Jongdae says accusingly, looking extremely hurt. He looks to Kibum for a response, and Kibum only shrugs. “Sorry.”

Jongdae abruptly gets up from his seat and stomps off, leaving the rest of them confused. Kibum quietly takes his leave as well and goes after him, and Chanyeol turns to look at Minseok, who whispers, “they are pretty tight.”

“So…” Jinki says, getting everyone’s attention. “Farewell party tomorrow?”

“You host parties for everything,” Sehun points out, chuckling.

“Everything is worth celebrating. Kibum is happy he’s leaving. Also, free food for you guys, so don’t complain,” Jinki retorts playfully, dismissing them with a flick of his wrist. “Please stay behind, Chanyeol. I would like a word.”

Chanyeol’s eyes dart back and forth as everyone slowly files out of the room, Minseok included. “Me?”

“Good work today,” Jinki commends him. Chanyeol flushes in response, shaking his head. “You took over Jongdae’s role pretty well. I wonder if the both of you can work well together as our tanks. Your role would complement his.”

“Thank you,” Chanyeol mumbles, nervously twisting his fingers. “I’m still a little overwhelmed. I didn’t expect to play so soon, and I didn’t do as well as I wanted to.”

“You’re just like Baekhyun; such an overachiever,” Jinki muses, leaning back in his seat and sighing. Chanyeol flinches at the mention of Baekhyun, but the coach doesn’t seem to take notice as he rambles on. “Anyway, Jongdae was kinda out of it today so I had to sub him out. I think it’s because he had an inkling that Kibum was leaving.”

“I didn’t know they were close,” Chanyeol comments offhandedly, glancing at the TV.

“They don’t show it often, but they’re good friends. Jongdae joined us under Kibum’s recommendation.”

“I see,” Chanyeol says. “I didn’t know that.”

“There’s not a lot you know about us at the moment, to be frank. But you will learn along the way.” There’s nothing else for them to talk about, but he has a gut feeling that Jinki wants to talk about Baekhyun. Not wanting to let that happen, he gets up and smooths down his crinkled shirt, giving Jinki a small smile. “Well, I’ll get going now.”

“Oh, of course. See you tomorrow.”

He finds Minseok sitting in the kitchen, using his phone. Chanyeol hesitates to call out for him when he recalls last night’s events, and his cheeks heat up at the memory. They were never actively replaying in his mind until now.

Shaking his head as if to dispel the thoughts, he clears his throat. “I’m going back up,” he tells Minseok, who blinks at him and follows suit.

They make their way up the stairs and Chanyeol is about to enter the room behind Minseok when he hears Jongdae’s strained voice. He backtracks and sees that Kibum’s door is open. He moves to close it for them, but stops when he hears what Jongdae is saying. “...let Baekhyun go.”

Chanyeol’s curiosity is piqued. His fingers pause on the doorknob, and he listens in even though he knows he shouldn’t, leaning against the wall beside the door. “He was never mine to begin with,” Kibum’s muffled voice comes through.

“You’re gonna leave us just because someone on the team doesn’t feel the same way you do?” Jongdae says incredulously, and Chanyeol frowns, agreeing with Jongdae — even though he doesn’t know what exactly it is they’re talking about, anyone could guess from those few lines.

“I’m not leaving solely because of Baekhyun. I’m doing this for myself. I’m tired of you guys pulling me down because I know I have so much more to offer, and I’ve had my eyes on LAV for a while now. I’ll admit that I’m leaving partly because of Baekhyun and Chanyeol, but it’s only a  _tiny_ reason. Ultimately, I’m doing this for  _myself_ ,” Kibum stresses, his voice sincere, and Chanyeol’s frown deepens.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” Kibum adds softly, and Chanyeol knows there’s nothing else for him to hear. He tip-toes back to his room and Minseok stares knowingly at him.

“I wasn’t doing anything,” Chanyeol defends himself before Minseok gets a word in.

Minseok chuckles and goes back to reading his book. “I didn’t  _say_ anything.”

“I know that expression,” Chanyeol grumbles, plopping onto his bed. Kibum’s words replay on his mind.  _I’m leaving partly because of Baekhyun and Chanyeol._

“And  _I_ know that expression. I’m guessing you overheard something you shouldn’t have,” Minseok deduces, setting his book down. “And I’m guessing it has something to do with a certain someone.”

“You know about it?” Chanyeol asks, surprised. Minseok’s eyebrow arches, as if asking if Chanyeol really didn’t know, and to that Chanyeol shrugs.

“It’s old news. I’m surprised Kibum’s feelings haven’t faded. But I don’t blame you — Kibum has always been very good at hiding his feelings. Plus, you don’t really know him, do you?”

Chanyeol shakes his head no. “He mentioned me too…” Chanyeol mumbles, looking out of the window. Minseok glances at him questioningly, not catching what Chanyeol said. “What?”

“Nothing. I’m gonna get food, do you want to come along?”

Minseok hesitates, but then he shakes his head and goes back to reading his book. “You go on ahead. I’m not hungry.”

“Okay. I’ll text you before I get back.” Minseok waves him off, and Chanyeol grabs his handphone and wallet, jogging down the stairs. He thinks maybe he should check on Jongdae, but the latter is nowhere to be found, so he leaves the house quietly.

Now that he’s alone and it’s peaceful outside, his mind is flooding with all kinds of thoughts, plenty of them being Baekhyun. He resists the urge to check his phone for messages, because he doesn’t know if he could deal with them right now. Besides, Baekhyun probably wouldn’t have messaged him.

He doesn’t check his messages for the rest of the night, not even before he goes to bed. He doesn’t think he can stand the disappointment when he checks his phone and there are no messages from Baekhyun.

 

+

 

There’s a match the next afternoon, but it isn’t his team’s. Nonetheless, Chanyeol decides to go check it out since he doesn’t have anything to do till the party starts.

Normally, with Baekhyun around, they would’ve gone somewhere or gone to hang out with Jongdae. But Jongdae is spending time with Kibum as far as Chanyeol knows, and Baekhyun isn’t here this time.

Minseok offered to accompany him today, but Chanyeol told him that he wanted to be alone. He grabs his stuff and leaves the quiet team house, cursing when he notices the time. He’s going to be late.

He’s about to plug his earphones in when he notices someone standing outside the team house. The first thing he notices is that she looks Asian, perhaps Korean as well. She looks like she’s about his age, also a little lost and tired, and it’s in Chanyeol’s blood to help someone in need, so he asks her if that’s what she needs.

“Hey, you’re Park Chanyeol aren’t you? I’m at the right place then,” she exclaims in Korean, sighing in relief. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow, confused. He doesn’t recognise this person, and he doesn’t know if he should call security on her. There’s something familiar about her, though, and her being Korean makes things less suspicious. She’s here for a good reason, he knows it.

She extends a hand to him, and smiles. “I’m Joohyun.”

“Joo...hyun…?” The name rings a bell, but it’s a common name. He’s probably came across five Joohyuns in his life. His eyebrows furrow as he tries to remember someone who looks like her, but no one comes to mind.

“Did I really change that much? We had Art and History classes together back at X High,” she tries to refresh his memory, letting her arm fall back to her side. “I’m friends with Baekhyun. And no, he doesn’t know I’m here. Not yet.”

 

+

 

Chanyeol ends up going to lunch with Joohyun, missing the match. She’s not someone he was especially close to, but after she shows him past photos of herself, he realises she’s the same bespectacled Joohyun from high school. Nothing much has changed, besides puberty doing things for her.

Still, it’s a little awkward for him to be hanging out with an ex-schoolmate he barely knows, but Joohyun makes it easy for him. She talks mostly about Baekhyun and how he’s like, and barely talks about high school life. He soon comes to realise that she’s the same person Baekhyun was talking to in his video, and the distaste must’ve shown on his face — because Joohyun is quick to let him know that they’re really just friends.

“That darling/babe thing is a thing we used to do in high school. It’s normal for us, so I hope you don’t misunderstand. Baekhyun was  _panicking_ when he ended the video,” she laughs, and Chanyeol stiffens at the mention of Baekhyun once more.

“I’m sorry, but I’m gonna be talking about Baekhyun 90% of the time. I’m here to be your… mediator. The third person the two of you so obviously need.”

“What does Baekhyun think of this?”

“Like I said, he doesn’t know I’m here with you,” Joohyun says, a warning tone in her voice. He gulps and frantically nods. Chanyeol realises how stupid it is to meet with someone he doesn’t exactly know, but he  _is_ curious about what she has to say, and she does seem trustworthy. He just hopes his instincts don’t fail him.

He remains silent as Joohyun sips on her tea, quietly studying her. She looks pretty, he thinks. Long hair, long lashes, nice eyes, pretty cheekbones… she looks like someone Baekhyun would probably date.  _But they aren’t dating,_ he reminds himself.

Joohyun sighs. “I’m lesbian. Stop worrying your head off, I’m starting to get nervous too,” she snaps, but there’s no bite in her words, and he smiles sheepishly at her.

“Look, I know Baekhyun is literally  _the_ worst at feelings and relationships, and you have every right to be mad at him,” she starts, with Chanyeol nodding in agreement.

“ _But,_ ” she continues, staring hard at Chanyeol, “he has his reasons. I’m not gonna be the one to tell you his life story, you’re gonna have to coax it out of him. But I can reassure you that he likes you, and  _only_ you. Not me, not some other dude or—” she waves her hands wildly in frustration, “—dudette, just you.”

Chanyeol looks around the restaurant, still a little shy to look her in the eye. She’s pretty intimidating even with that small stature of hers, and Chanyeol doesn’t know if she’s mad at him or Baekhyun when she talks like that. “I… I don’t know why you’re telling me this. Honestly, it’s not like what you say will give me an ease of mind just like that,” he says, snapping his fingers for emphasis.

Joohyun leans forward, eyes gleaming brightly. Chanyeol involuntarily leans back in his seat warily. “Well, Baekhyun’s not a baby. I don’t want to tell you everything, so I’ll leave it to him, but I’m here to make sure you won’t run away from him when he wants to talk to you. I know Baekhyun’s been a dick and that in your eyes, he probably doesn’t deserve a chance to explain himself, but I really do hope you listen to him,” Joohyun pleads, clasping her hands together.

“T-talk to him?” Chanyeol repeats, eyes going wide as he looks up at the woman in front of him. Joohyun nods. “I mean, I did come here with him, so… I heard there’s a farewell party or something tonight?”

“Oh,” he says in a small voice, looking down at his lap. His food is only half-eaten, but his appetite is no longer there. Does he really want to talk to Baekhyun so soon?

“Also…” Joohyun trails off, as if unsure if she should say something. Chanyeol cocks his head to the side, waiting.

“Yeah?” He prods.

“I was just wondering if you’ve seen his texts. He sent a couple a while ago — I mean, American time so… one two nights ago and one yesterday morning, I think. He’s been pretty upset because he thinks you’ve been ignoring him,” she says. “You  _aren’t_ ignoring him, are you?”

“I mean, I completely understand if you are ignoring him, he probably deserves it, but I just wanna know,” she adds. Chanyeol frowns as his heart pounds loudly.  _Text?_

“What text?”

“The… text…? I don’t know the contents of it, but I know he sent you some things.” He scrambles for his phone, hastily unlocking it and opening his conversation with Baekhyun. His eyes widen as he takes it all in — Baekhyun didn’t just text him once or twice — he texted him  _multiple_ times yesterday too.

It’s all too overwhelming and he exits the conversation without reading the entirety of it. The only time Baekhyun would text like this is when he’s drunk — which Chanyeol assumes he was when he sent all of that. Empty words.

But why didn’t he see the messages?

“Minseok,” he groans as it dawns on him. How else could he explain why he didn’t see all these messages from Baekhyun?

“Minseok,” Joohyun echoes, glaring at her empty plate. “This is why I hate men,” she mutters under her breath. She sighs and glances at her watch, getting up from her seat.

“I’ll see you later at the party, I think. I hope you give Baek a chance. And also talk to Minseok about laying his hands off things that do not involve him,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“I will,” Chanyeol replies, gripping tightly onto his phone. He stands up as well and bows slightly to her, smiling. “Thanks for meeting me. And thanks for the sponsor.”

“W-what are you talking about?” Joohyun says, flustered. She looks like a deer caught in the headlights, and Chanyeol chuckles.

“Why else would Bae Tech sponsor me? You can’t actually believe I don’t remember who you are, right? Bae Joohyun, daughter of Bae Tech’s founder. Everyone knew —  _knows_ — who you are. I just couldn’t really remember your face,” Chanyeol explains.

“Bae Tech takes sponsorships very seriously. I assure you it’s not favouritism or connections that got you the partnership,” Joohyun replies politely. “But you’re welcome either way.”

“Where are you staying at now? I could walk you back,” Chanyeol offers, but Joohyun shakes her head.

“It’s okay. I’m staying with Baek for now,” she says as she settles their bill.

“Oh,” Chanyeol mumbles, “is he… doing okay?” The question he’s been dying to ask is finally out of his mouth, and it feels like a weight off his shoulders.

Joohyun studies him for a moment and eventually lets out a long sigh. “That’s a tough question. If I say he’s fine, it’ll sound like he’s perfectly okay without you. If I say he’s not, you’re gonna be upset as well. Which do you want to hear?”

They walk out of the restaurant with Chanyeol pondering over her words. “See you tonight,” Joohyun says, giving him a small wave. “Make sure you set Minseok straight. Men don’t ever give up until you say it to their god damn face.”

Chanyeol chokes on air — it’s like Joohyun doesn’t realise he’s a guy himself, but he understands where she’s coming from.

When he reaches the team house, the first thing he does is confront Minseok about the read messages. He’s annoyed, livid even — the more he thinks about it, the more he feels disrespected. He lifts the screen to Minseok’s face, shaking it for emphasis. “Did you go through my fucking messages?”

Minseok’s mouth hangs open and he doesn’t answer for a few moments, and Chanyeol puts the phone down. “You had- you  _have_ no  _right_ to do that.”

“Can I… at least put some clothes on?” Minseok asks, toweling his hair dry. He’s still damp from his shower, another towel wrapped around his waist. He certainly was not expecting Chanyeol to come home all pissed. Although, he was wondering how long it would take Chanyeol to find out. Not long, apparently.

“ _No._ You tell me what the fuck is wrong with you right now. First you  _kiss_ me without my permission even when you know I like Baekhyun, and now you go through my messages? What next, sabotage our career just because I don’t love you back?” Chanyeol nearly yells, and Minseok pales, lowering his hands. Chanyeol has never been so mad before, never at him.

“Look, I’m sorry-”

“No, you’re not. You always say you’re sorry but you always do the same god damn thing over and over again.  _I like Baekhyun._ No matter what you say or think of him, the fact is that he’s the one I like. Stop it. I can’t believe I have to tell you of all people to stop this childish shit,” Chanyeol fumes, gritting his teeth. He doesn’t stop to listen to Minseok when he leaves for the practice room to blow off steam.

 

+

 

Chanyeol takes a shower  _right_ before the party starts because he doesn’t want to get his efforts to go to waste. His mind is still reeling from his conversation with Joohyun, but he now feels a little bad for yelling at Minseok.

Minseok aside, knowing that he will finally get to see Baekhyun today is making him nervous. His heart won’t stop fluttering and he’s having a hard time toning it down because he  _knows_ Baekhyun wants to see him too.

A lot of people are already at the team house even though the party has barely even started — there’s lots of familiar faces, but there are also plenty of foreign ones. It’s all a little overwhelming and he has half the mind to ditch the party since he doesn’t even know the recipient well.

As his eyes sweep across the room, his eyes meet Minseok’s. He tears his gaze away from the man and turns to leave, feeling embarrassed about earlier, but Minseok catches him just before he rounds the corner. “Wait,” he calls, grasping onto Chanyeol’s arm.

Refusing to look him in the eye, Chanyeol does what he knows best — he stares at Minseok’s forehead, leaning back against the wall. If Minseok notices, he doesn’t mention it, but instead goes on to apologise. “I’m sorry I kissed you without considering your feelings. I don’t have an excuse for that.”

He takes a deep breath and goes on, “I’m sorry I went through your messages — I’ll admit, the first time I saw them I had the intention of deleting them, but I couldn’t because you woke up. But the second time was out of pure curiosity and I wanted to tell you about them eventually, but I forgot.”

 _You went through my messages twice?_ is on the tip on his tongue, but Chanyeol holds back and waits for Minseok to finish his monologue.

“I don’t expect you to like me back,” Minseok stresses, “and I did those things partially because I was jealous and worried that Baekhyun wouldn’t treat you right. But I know it’s not my place to decide anything. I’m really sorry, Chanyeol. I know you like Baekhyun, I know he’s a good guy, I just… you know.”

“I’m still really upset, but just know that you’ll be forgiven by the end of the night,” Chanyeol grumbles as he looks to his side, unable to stay mad at Minseok. How could he, when he can so perfectly understand how Minseok felt? He doesn’t want to fight over something that’s already passed, so he bites back his words.

“You’re the best, Yeolie,” Minseok sighs dreamily, giving Chanyeol a big bear hug. “I’ll never do that again, I promise. I can still kiss you on the cheek, right?”

Chanyeol nods stiffly, secretly pleased that their tiff is over. And when Minseok kisses him on the cheek with his arms around his waist, Chanyeol ignores all eyes on them.

“Well, I guess they’re together now,” Baekhyun says bitterly, downing his shot. “I fucked up again. I always do.”

“I mean, you haven’t even tried talking to him. The only thing you’ve done so far is get yourself drunk as hell and wallow in self-pity,” Jongdae replies, blowing a raspberry.

Baekhyun saw everything. From the way Chanyeol and Minseok spoke heatedly, to the way Chanyeol’s features softened as time passed. From the way Chanyeol tried so hard to keep his lips downturned, to the way his cheeks darkened ever so slightly in the dim light as Minseok placed a kiss on his cheek.

His grip on the solo cup tightens as Minseok drags Chanyeol to some other part of the house, and he gets up from his seat in an attempt to follow them, but Jongdae places a firm hand on his chest and he nearly stumbles. “Get a grip on yourself before doing anything, man,” he chides.

“I’m sober as fuck,” Baekhyun replies, annoyed. He knows for a fact that he’s good enough with alcohol to have half a dozen cups of beer and not get buzzed. He shakes off Jongdae’s hand, eyes hardening as he scans the room to look for them once more, but he doesn’t spot any familiar features of the pair.

“That’s what every drunk person says,” Jongdae says slowly, hand gently but firmly pulling Baekhyun back into his seat. “At least clear your mind before going to see him and  _possibly_ doing or saying something you may regret.”

Slouching in defeat, Baekhyun reaches for a bottle of water and sighs before gulping it down. The party is a small one with LAV, the team Kibum is transferring to. Baekhyun isn’t particularly interested, but he’s here to be polite and also to see Chanyeol.

Exhaling, he asks Jongdae, “so are they together now or what?”

Jongdae shrugs, pursing his lips. “I dunno. You gotta ask him yourself.”

Baekhyun rolls his eyes and grumbles under his breath, cursing Jongdae. He’s more or less up-to-date with Chanyeol’s progress in Seoul Dynasty — for instance, he knows that Chanyeol subbed in for Jongdae and the coach wants him as a permanent team player — but when it comes to Chanyeol’s personal life, Jongdae refuses to tell him anything.

Even now, back in America and seated beside Jongdae, the latter still refuses to say a word about it.  _“If you’re that curious, you should talk to him,”_ Jongdae had said. But the truth is that he hasn’t spoken to Chanyeol since he left for Korea, and he just  _cannot_ bring up the courage to do so. The longer he puts it off, the harder it is for him to say something, anything at all, to Chanyeol.

And would Chanyeol even  _want_ to listen to him?

He talks to Jongdae about other things, just to get his mind of Chanyeol and Minseok for a bit. “So, how are you holding up?”

“Okay, I guess. It’s not like he’s gonna be gone forever; he’s just switching teams. I was just upset that I wasn’t the first to hear about it. He didn’t even confide in me,” Jongdae says, heaving a sigh.

Kibum is the reason why he's here in Overwatch League today. It’s rare to be able to pursue an e-sports career with a friend, and when Kibum suggested Jongdae to his coach, the both of them never expected things to go their way. They were an undefeatable duo, and even though they were mostly only friends on the battlefield because of their chemistry, they were definitely closer than most others. So when Kibum made such an important career decision without his knowledge, Jongdae was more than crushed.

It’s sad that to see Kibum go, even for Baekhyun, he knows it’s for the best. “Sorry,” Baekhyun mutters, staring into space.

“Nothing to be sorry about. Kibum’s not leaving because of you. He’s leaving because we’ve been performing badly lately — you know that,” Jongdae reminds him.

“Still,” Baekhyun sighs, “I feel bad. I know me being close to Chanyeol has made him uncomfortable.”

“That’s his problem. He’s a grown man — he can handle it,” Jongdae replies, shrugging. “Come on, we aren’t high schoolers anymore. Don’t think so lowly of Kibum’s actions. Even if he did it because of you, at least he’s doing something about it. Unlike you.”

“Excuse me?” Baekhyun says, laughing. “Yeah, I get it. I was planning to do something about it today, but after seeing him with Minseok… I don’t know, man.”

“Don’t assume shit until you’ve talked to Chanyeol yourself.”

Slapping himself lightly, he shakes his head to wake himself up. “I’m gonna go find him.”

Jongdae eyes him worriedly, furrowing his eyebrows. “Are you sure you can handle it now?”

“I have liquid courage in me… and I’ve put this off long enough.” He grabs his bottle of water and walks away, but not before patting his hand on Jongdae’s shoulder and telling him not to worry about Kibum’s departure. Jongdae gives him a grateful smile and raises his glass in response, silent.

Baekhyun searches the entire house before finally finding the both of them, his face falling at the sight. While everyone is at the party, the both of them are up in their room… cuddling, or something. It feels as though someone splashed cold water all over him — seeing Minseok slumped on top of Chanyeol. A wave of anger comes over him, and with the alcohol coursing through his veins, he finds himself stepping forward, forcefully pulling Minseok off Chanyeol.

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol says in disbelief, sitting up.

“The fuck is wrong with you, man?” Minseok slurs a little, staggering as he balances himself on his feet. He frowns when he sees Baekhyun’s pissed off expression and tsks. “I heard that you’d be back soon, but I didn’t expect it to be today.”

“Cut the crap. I know you’ve been fucking with the messages I sent to Chanyeol,” Baekhyun snarls, balling his fists. “You don’t play fair.”

“Does it matter? You already know who Chanyeol has chosen,” Minseok spits, gesturing to the bed. Chanyeol stands up slowly, unsure of what to do or say. Before either of them can react, Baekhyun strides closer and throws a punch to his face, chest heaving as Minseok raises his hand to his cheek in shock. “Did you just  _hit_ me?”

“Son of a bitch,” Baekhyun mutters, cradling his hand. He steps forward and Minseok instinctively cowers a little, not wanting to get hit again. “Stay out of our business.”

He stills when he feels a hand grabbing onto his, and he turns to see Chanyeol’s doleful expression. He relaxes and his shoulders go slack as he pays no heed to Minseok and drags Chanyeol out of the room with him, the latter surprisingly compliant.

When they reach a quieter, more private place outdoors, Baekhyun opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Chanyeol breaks the silence and saves him from his misery. “I don’t have to explain myself to you, but you caught us at the wrong time. Minseok tripped and fell on me. He’s a little tipsy, you see.”

“I don’t think you should’ve punched him, but I’ve been wanting to do that for a while — so thanks, I think,” Chanyeol adds quietly.

 _Say something,_ Baekhyun urges himself, but it’s like something’s caught in his throat and he can’t get a word out. And when he finally does, it’s one word, and his voice cracks as he says it. “Oh.”

Chanyeol doesn’t answer, and they sit in silence as the cold wind blows. A couple of other people out there with them, but they’re seated away from the crowd.

Baekhyun fixes his stare on the table in front of him, not daring to look at Chanyeol in the eye even though he can feel the latter’s eyes on him. It’s unnerving and he feels like he always does before a match — apprehensive and skittish.

Baekhyun wants to apologise for everything and explain himself, but the liquid courage is long gone and his pride is getting in the way. He wishes he could just suck it up and say he’s sorry, but sorry isn’t easy for Baekhyun to say, especially when he means it.

“I hope you’ve been well,” Chanyeol tries again, peering at Baekhyun. “I know you went back to Korea for reasons, and I take it you’re back because everything is okay again. Jongdae didn’t tell me much.”

 _I’m back because I couldn’t stand being without you, amongst other reasons,_ Baekhyun wants to say. But it’s like someone glued his mouth shut and he can’t find the words to say them.

“I saw your messages just this afternoon,” Chanyeol tells him, looking up at the night sky, “but I didn’t really know how to answer to all those texts.”

Baekhyun deflates — does Chanyeol not feel the same way anymore? Did he really end up choosing Minseok over him? He looks up to Chanyeol but the latter isn’t looking at him, and he notices the tears welling up at the corner of Chanyeol’s eyes.  _Fuck. You did it again._

“It was nice seeing you, I guess,” Chanyeol says as his voice wobbles, his smile not quite reaching his eyes. He stands up and dusts himself off, sighing. “I expected more from you, but you don’t seem to give a damn, as always. Minseok was right — I don’t even know why the hell I like you this much.”

He turns to walk away and Baekhyun stands up as well, panicking — things aren’t supposed to go this way. He was supposed to talk things out with Chanyeol and make up with him and well, hopefully make out — but this wasn’t what he had in mind at all.  _Say something god dammit Byun Baekhyun_ , the voice in his head yells, and Baekhyun scrunches his eyes shut.  _I’m trying. I’m fucking-_

Chanyeol whips his head back to face Baekhyun, fuming. Baekhyun opens his eyes only to be met with Chanyeol’s cold stare. “I met up with Joohyun and she told me to give you a chance to speak, but you aren’t even saying a word. All those texts you sent mean nothing to you? Do  _I_ mean nothing to you? You’re just gonna fucking  _sit there_ and listen to me talk? Don’t you have anything to say at all?”

And when Chanyeol starts to walk away, Baekhyun knows he’s done for.

“Shit,” Baekhyun breathes, willing his legs to catch up to Chanyeol, but he’s frozen in his spot. He’s frantic, desperate to tell Chanyeol how he feels but he- he just can’t. But he can’t let Chanyeol just walk away like that either.

_Fuck it Baekhyun, just say something._

“I’m sorry,” he says loudly, and he knows Chanyeol heard it with the way his steps falter. It’s not enough to make Chanyeol stop walking and he supposes he deserves that, but he doesn’t know what else to say when there are people around them.

_Lies. You know what you should say. You know what you should do._

“Fuck, Chanyeol- I’m sorry- please, I love you!” he yells, scrunching his eyes shut as he clenches his fists.

 

+

 

The one thing Chanyeol has been dying to say to Baekhyun.  _I love you._

The one thing he never thought he’d hear from Baekhyun.  _I love you._

Chanyeol quickly turns around, as if it would confirm what Baekhyun had just said to him. Baekhyun is still standing there with his eyes squeezed shut, body trembling, and Chanyeol belatedly realises how hard it is for Baekhyun to be articulate and open about his feelings.

He walks back to where Baekhyun is standing, placing his hands on either side of the latter’s shoulder. Baekhyun warily opens his eyes, relaxing. “Hi,” Chanyeol breathes, and in that moment, all the anger he felt before disappears.

“Hello,” Baekhyun replies, blushing. “I’m not very good with words and it takes me a long time to come up with something coherent and I didn’t mean to make things so hard for you-”

“ _Breathe._ It’s okay. Just breathe,” Chanyeol interrupts. He pushes Baekhyun back down into the seat, and passes him the bottle of water Baekhyun was holding onto earlier, and Baekhyun accepts it gratefully. Crossing his legs, he leans back in his seat as well, but this time waiting patiently for Baekhyun to say his piece.

“It didn’t occur like this in my head,” Baekhyun starts, “I was a lot more confident. But things don’t always go the way you want things to go.”

“First of all, I want to say that I’m... sorry. My past behaviour was uncalled for and after talking to Jongdae and the others, I realised how misleading my actions were. It’s not like I was completely blind to what I did — a lot of it was just harmless flirting to me at first, but I suppose at some point it got  _real,_ and I just couldn’t bring myself to admit that,” he says slowly, gathering his thoughts.

“I’ve liked you for a long time, but I guess I was just… afraid, somehow. You probably don’t know about this and I’m not trying to use it as an excuse, but I used to like this guy and I wasn’t good enough for him. Things happened and words were exchanged. It just led me to believe that no one would like me for  _me_ , you know? Which was why I was so skeptical at first, but I know now that I should never have doubted you,” Baekhyun explains. Chanyeol listens quietly and looks to him to see if he’s done talking.

“I’ve always lived my life telling myself not to get attached to anyone because people always leave in the end. Of course, that rule doesn’t apply to Jongdae, but you understand where I’m going with this, right? And when I could feel myself latching onto you I just did what I did best — I ran. Without thinking about how you would’ve felt, I ran and tried to protect myself from god knows what. And I’m sorry. I just… I don’t know what else is there to say. I know I’m not the best person but I hope you still like me because… well… I like you. I love you,” he says softly. “I’m sorry it took so long for me to say all that.”

“Wow,” Chanyeol breathes, taking it all in. “I mean… wow. So… you love me?”

“Yeah,” Baekhyun says, smiling shyly. “I’m willing to take a chance… if you want me, that is.”

“Okay. That was  _not_ what I was expecting at all. I was expecting  _maybe_ an ‘I like you’ but definitely not   _that_ L-word,” Chanyeol replies jokingly.

It feels so surreal to have the person he loves say it back to him, and it’s unbelievable because it’s Byun Baekhyun. Baekhyun who only ever had one-night stands. Baekhyun who doesn’t bat an eye when people confess their undying love to him (or least, that’s what Chanyeol imagines).

“Trust me, blurting that out loud wasn’t what I had in mind,” Baekhyun murmurs, shaking his head. He finally has the courage to look up at Chanyeol, and when he does, all he feels is  _loved._ He never wants Chanyeol to look at anyone else the way he looks at him.

“So we probably have a lot more to talk about, but it’s been a long day and I really just want to go home,” Chanyeol hints, standing up. “Wanna get out of here?”

“Home?” Baekhyun echoes.

“Your place, dumbass. Is Joohyun still there, though? I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“ _Oh._ Okay. Um, no, she isn’t. Let me just say bye to Kibum and Jongdae and we’ll go.”

 

+

 

 _You_  
Get your ass out of the house   _20:02_  
The love of my life is coming over _20:02_

 _Cashier Bae_  
WOW okay. Thats no way to treat  
_20:03_ ur benefactor  
_20:03_ When is the wedding

 _You_  
Thanks and bye _20:03_  
You won’t be invited x _20:03_

 _Cashier Bae_  
_20:03_ R00d

 _You_  
Learned from the best!  _20:04_

 

+

 

“Promise me you won’t get mad.”

“I promise.”

“Minseok might have kissed me once,” Chanyeol admits as they’re on the way to Baekhyun’s apartment. There wasn’t a need for him to pack his things since he knows for a fact that Baekhyun has clothes for him (or  _from_ him) and they could always go back to the team house the next day.

Baekhyun sucks in a deep breath and exhales. “Okay. I’m not mad at all,” he replies lowly, jaw tightening.

“I might have  _sort of_ kissed him back. Just a little.” Baekhyun snaps his head up to look at Chanyeol in disbelief. 

“You’re kidding,” he nearly growls. Chanyeol pouts at him and he instantly melts, still a little mad but mostly at himself. Things would’ve panned out differently for them if he wasn’t so timid and pessimistic.

“I’ve been neglecting you too much. I’m sorry,” Baekhyun says instead.

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol says after a few beats of silence. “What matters is that you’re here now. I expect you to talk things out with Minseok though.”

“Why should I?”

“He’s my  _best friend._ He was just looking out for me and you can’t blame him for acting this way. People do all sorts of crazy things when they’re in love. Blame yourself for bagging an attractive boyfriend,” Chanyeol teases, making Baekhyun chuckle.

“I will. Tomorrow or something.”

“Sounds good,” Chanyeol murmurs. When Baekhyun opens the door to the apartment, he does not expect to see the place lit with fucking  _candles_ and scattered with flower petals. Chanyeol carefully makes his way into the apartment, cheeks pinking.

“I- I didn’t do this,” Baekhyun is quick to tell him, and Chanyeol giggles.

“I know. You’re definitely not the kind of person to do this,” Chanyeol replies as he guides Baekhyun to the petal-covered couch. “But since it’s already done for us… might as well make use of it.”

“Right  _now_? You’re in the mood?” Baekhyun says incredulously. “Isn’t this all too fast for you?”

“I’ve wanted this for a long time,” Chanyeol breathes, leaning in to Baekhyun as he eyes his lips. “Don’t you want it?” He purrs, dragging a finger down Baekhyun’s chest.

“I mean- yeah but- I’m j-jet lagged and- I kinda wanted our first time to be… more… special,” he nearly whispers the last word, and Chanyeol laughs.

“Never pegged you to be that kind of person. You truly are a man of surprises, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol coos. “All right. Let’s just snuggle. I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too. We have so much to catch up on,” Baekhyun sighs.

“We have all the time in the world,” Chanyeol replies.

“Wow, it’s like Overwatch League doesn’t exist.”

“We’ll think about that tomorrow. Cuddles. Now,” Chanyeol grumbles, snuggling into Baekhyun’s chest.

“I’ll give you whatever you want,  _babe_. But, can we… I feel like I should tell you what happened back then now, otherwise I don’t think I’ll ever have the courage to talk about it again,” Baekhyun says, kissing the top of Chanyeol’s head.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to talk about it,” Chanyeol immediately replies, but Baekhyun hushes him. “It’s not like I’m gonna get nightmares from this, it’s just something I never really thought about. But I thought you should know.”

“If you say so,” Chanyeol hums, “but just know that I trust you. You don’t have to say it if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“So,” Baekhyun drawls as he cards his fingers through Chanyeol’s hair. “Back in high school, I used to like this guy. Don’t know if you know him, but his name is Taemin. He was a senior and we were close because of our shared interest in games, and needless to say I fell pretty hard for him.”

“This was…?”

“I think a little before I met you,” Baekhyun answers, smiling. “So anyway, he knew that I was gay, bi, whatever and he didn’t care, but I guess he never expected me to actually fall for him. I was an idiot for thinking he actually liked me back. I mean come  _on_ , why would a guy like him like someone like me, am I right? And who in the right mind would’ve come out of the closet back then?”

“I confessed and he laughed at me, saying that I was being ridiculous and I insisted that I was  _genuinely in love with him._ And he told me to prove myself. 16 year old me did not understand how to prove myself, so I did really embarrassing things like writing love letters and giving him my food and all that 16-year-old-in-love crap. But obviously, he thought that was hilarious, because not only did he downplay my feelings with his insults and actions, he told his friends all about it and rumours spread. He didn’t say it was me, but it was humiliating enough.” He takes a deep breath and goes on.

“Wow, now I know why I kept this at this at the back of my mind. So then I go to confront him after much thought and he says,  _did you seriously think I would like you back just because you did all that? You will never be enough_ , or something along those lines. Anyway, brutal rejection for a 16 year old.” Chanyeol shifts in his place and looks up at Baekhyun, glaring at him.

“You will  _always_ be enough. Even if you have nothing to your name, you will always be my number one choice,” Chanyeol says firmly.

“That’s nice of you,” Baekhyun beams, ruffling Chanyeol’s hair. He leans down to kiss his forehead before continuing. “Anyway, I was telling Joohyun all that happened between you and I, and she brought that incident up, and we figured maybe that was the reason why I’m so closed off and… indifferent, you know?”

Chanyeol nods his head and buries his face even deeper into Baekhyun’s chest. “I can understand,” he says, voice muffled. “Thank you for sharing this part of you with me.”

“Thank you for understanding,” Baekhyun replies softly. “It probably doesn’t make much sense to you-”

“No,” Chanyeol cuts him off firmly. “It’s something that had a huge impact on you. What might seem insignificant to you might be something of importance to someone else.”

“But it wasn’t that important-”

“You’re missing the point here,” Chanyeol sing-songs, “as an outsider, I don’t get to decide what’s made a huge impact on your life. I only get to know about it.”

“Whatever you say, Your Highness,” Baekhyun muses. “It’s late, though. Should we head to bed?”

“I don’t mind sleeping on the couch,” Chanyeol says, yawning. “It’s big enough anyway.”

“Sweet dreams, then,” Baekhyun says, shifting to make the both of them comfortable. He tightens his hold on Chanyeol, and sighs in content.

“Hey, Baek?”

“Yeah?”

“I love you,” Chanyeol whispers, gripping onto Baekhyun’s t-shirt. He can’t see Chanyeol’s smile in the darkness, but he knows it’s there.

And he says it back, this time, with confidence. “And I love you.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand it’s finally done! There will definitely be bonus chapters covering whatever it is that I’ve “missed”, but everything I wanted in the fic is right here (I think). Thank you all for sticking w me throughout this story—I know it isn’t the best but I really love overwatch and baekyeol and I had this overwhelming NEED to write this.
> 
> It’s not a perfect story—it’s not supposed to be. You will find flaws in the characters because I don’t like writing picture-perfect scenarios; a lot of the things in the fic are heavily inspired by things that have happened to me in real life (plenty of times I was Baekhyun; which is why I was sad to see people disliking Baekhyun in my fic. You’re disliking me :c kidding.) so if you’re reading the fic and thinking, wtf??? Seriously??? People do that??? Yes, people do.
> 
> Thank you for all your kind comments and kudos, it really keeps me going whenever I don’t have the motivation to write. And lastly, sorry for taking so long with this update, I’ll admit I didn’t take very long to write it, but a lot of my time was spent doing adult stuff. I hate that I have to do adult stuff now.
> 
> If you have any questions about the fic or anything at all, e.g. what you want to see in bonus scenes (if u ask for smut I will block you) (again, kidding) (if u want smut u gotta let me know what exactly u want) feel free to comment
> 
> (edit: yay we reached 200 kudos! Insert party emoji here + [laura drew this for the fic!!!!](https://twitter.com/xiuleader/status/1035122915812036608) everyone say thank u laura)


	12. bonus one

**Baekhyun** @baekkaji

AMA stream in an hour! Get your questions ready.  
P.S. someone will be joining me on stream today.

_ 12:01 PM - 30 August 2018  _

**204** Retweets **1,614** Likes

 

“I’m nervous,” Chanyeol tells him in a small voice. “Nervous but also excited.”

They’re on Baekhyun’s bed, lying around as Baekhyun scrolls through the tweet replies and reads some questions. He makes a mental note to answer a few of them, even though he asked his followers to save their questions for later.

“You don’t have to be,” Baekhyun murmurs lazily. Chanyeol is resting his head in Baekhyun’s lap, sighing contentedly as Baekhyun lovingly runs his fingers through his hair. “I’m sure everyone would be supportive of us.”

“For someone so pessimistic, you surely are positive about this,” Chanyeol muses, tucking his legs into his chest. He looks up to Baekhyun for an answer, blushing when he sees that Baekhyun is already looking down at him, a fond smile on his face.

“You already know my fans know that I like men and wholly support me. They’re gonna be nothing short of happy for me. I can’t say the same about your following, but are you ready for whatever backlash you may get?” Baekhyun asks worriedly, a frown etched on his face.

Chanyeol reaches up to ease that frown, smiling back at him. “It’s fine. I have thousands of fans but only one Byun Baekhyun,” he coos. The truth is that he really doesn’t know if he’s ready, but he’s willing to just go for it if it’ll make Baekhyun happy.

“But this isn’t about _me_ ,” Baekhyun protests, “it’s about you coming out to your audience. I’m not the subject, your sexuality is.”

“Don’t think I don’t know what this is about,” Baekhyun chides, an edge in his voice. Chanyeol pouts, kicking his feet in the air like a child. He raises his arms and places his hands on Baekhyun’s cheeks in attempt to lighten the mood, but Baekhyun stays unamused.

“I know you’re still feeling insecure about our relationship,” Chanyeol mumbles. “I just want to make you feel more comfortable. I don’t know how else to convince you that I really like you.”

“Besides,” Chanyeol adds, “it’s not like they don’t suspect anything. The fans are perceptive.”

“You don’t have to prove it to me. I already know,” Baekhyun says. It’s true—Baekhyun knows. Although there’s always a little nagging voice at the back of his head, wondering if Chanyeol truly likes him the way he is, he knows for a fact that yes, Chanyeol does. But it isn’t easy to get rid of a notion that has been ingrained in your mind for years.

“And please, they aren’t perceptive. They just believe what they want to. There’s a difference,” Baekhyun tells him. “Anyway, the decision is yours. It’s okay if we don’t announce our relationship, you know. We don’t owe them anything.”

“Trust me, I want this,” Chanyeol mutters. It’s not a lie—the Chanyeol a few months ago would probably vehemently disagree with his decision now, Chanyeol doesn’t mind it anymore. He’d rather let people know than have people gossip about him and speculate, anyway. Taking a hold of Baekhyun’s arms, he wraps them around himself. Baekhyun lets go of his phone and pulls Chanyeol upright so they’re both sitting up and showers him with kisses.

“I love you,” Baekhyun whispers, his lips lingering on Chanyeol’s neck, “announcement or not.”

“I know you do, but it scares me to know that you love me even more than you love yourself.” Chanyeol says, tilting his head. Baekhyun continues down, sucking particularly hard at the base of his neck, and Chanyeol gasps at the tingling feeling. He loves it when Baekhyun marks him.

“It’s not like I _hate_ myself,” Baekhyun replies earnestly as he admires his handiwork. “I just need to love myself a little more. A lot of people do. I can do that.” They sit in silence for a while, with Baekhyun entwining their fingers as Chanyeol finds a show to watch. And he suddenly has an overwhelming urge to say everything he wanted to say before but couldn’t.

It’s already been a week since they got together, but they haven’t talked about that night since. Baekhyun still has countless of things to tell Chanyeol, but whenever he feels like the mood is right, he can’t find the courage to do so. It’s like a hand around his throat every time, refusing to let him speak freely about how he feels about Chanyeol and everything about them.

He has spoken to Minseok though, but only due to Chanyeol’s persistence. They’re still in rocky waters, but they’ve sorted out their differences, just not to Baekhyun’s liking. Chanyeol thinks he’s being ridiculous, but Baekhyun thinks it’s just healthy jealousy. He doesn’t want Minseok within Chanyeol’s reach, but he isn’t saying anything about it because he’s a good boyfriend. Or at least, that’s what he’s trying to convince himself.

“It’s funny,” Chanyeol chuckles, “how just a month ago—a week, even—I was wondering if you even had feelings for me. And now I have no doubt that you do. Just like that. You became a lot clingier and vocal after that night.”

Baekhyun panics—is that a good thing or a bad thing? Chanyeol seems to notice his discomfort, because he quickly adds, “it’s nice. I like it.”

“Oh.” Baekhyun wonders if he should even say anything at all, because he doesn’t want to upset Chanyeol. But he knows that if he waits any longer, it would be awkward to bring up the topic again. He exhales deeply and tells himself, _fuck it._ “I know we’ve already talked last week, but I feel like I left out a lot of things back then.”

Chanyeol looks back at him curiously, and he continues. “But instead of me telling you everything, you can ask me about anything you want to know. We still have a bit of time before the stream starts, so go ahead.” He’s relieved when his voice doesn’t waver. Gulping as Chanyeol moves to sit beside him, he wonders if his boyfriend has many questions for him. He can only assume so, since he’s such a private person to begin with.

“I can’t think of anything because it’s so sudden,” Chanyeol says, pouting. Baekhyun only smiles down at his lap, hoping Chanyeol would ask him something, _anything,_ so he can feel closer to him.

“Okay, I’ve got one. How was Korea? What did you there, who did you stay with, all that jazz,” Chanyeol asks, leaning on Baekhyun’s shoulder. Baekhyun looks down at Chanyeol.

“You mean, you don’t know?”

“Know what?”

“I stayed with Minseok-hyung,” Baekhyun tells him. Chanyeol nods his head slowly, trying to recall any instances he was told that.

“I think he mentioned it? But I can’t remember. He didn’t really talk about you then,” Chanyeol says apologetically. Baekhyun sighs. Of course Chanyeol wouldn’t. Why would Minseok even mention Baekhyun of his own accord?

“I stayed with Minseok-hyung for about two weeks, but it was awkward, and we fought before he left. I said some mean things—he did too, but it was mostly me who was a jerk. Anyway, after he left, I went back to my apartment and I met Joohyun nearby, and we caught up with each other. And then… yeah. Come to think of it, I did _nothing_ during my time in Korea. But I think that was what I needed,” he rambles, “time to do nothing.”

“Do I want to know what the two of you fought over?” Chanyeol asks carefully. Baekhyun shrugs. “You and the reason he left Dynasty. I made fun of him for leaving and said he was a coward.”

Chanyeol whistles lowly. He crosses his leg over Baekhyun’s and wraps an arm around his. “Low blow.”

“I know. I never claimed to be the nicest person in the world. But I regretted it the moment the words left my mouth. I apologised again that day we talked things out,” Baekhyun explains, hoping Chanyeol wouldn’t think any less of him.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” Chanyeol replies softly. He reaches for the laptop in front of him and plays a song. “So, when did you realise you had feelings for me?”

“You- you can’t just ask a question like that!” Baekhyun shouts, flustered. He jerks back to look at Chanyeol in disbelief and his boyfriend laughs heartily, grinning back at him. “Come on, tell me.”

Baekhyun ponders over his question, a finger to his lip as he tries to recall. “I don’t know. It’s not something you realise quickly, but if I had to name a moment, probably the night you fell asleep on my lap.”

“But there were many nights I fell asleep on your lap,” Chanyeol points out, and Baekhyun winks at him. “Exactly.”

“That’s not an answer,” Chanyeol whines. He changes the song to an upbeat one and checks the time. “We still have 20 minutes before your stream, by the way.”

Baekhyun smiles sadly. He really wishes he would’ve just accepted that he liked Chanyeol back then. “We’ve been talking to each other for nearly a year now. I think it was like the first three months that I realised I really really liked you, as a friend and maybe more. But I just kept denying it, you know? Because how could anyone have feelings for someone they only talked to online?”

“Actually-” Chanyeol starts, but Baekhyun puts a finger to his lips and shushes him. It takes him by surprise when Chanyeol opens his mouth a little and licks his finger, but he doesn’t say a word about it and continues on.

“That’s what I used to think anyway. But obviously, I learned that you _can_ actually fall for someone through texts and phone calls. It just wasn’t a thing for me and- can you stop that? It’s distracting,” he tsks, glancing at Chanyeol.

The man has Baekhyun’s finger in his mouth and his eyes are glazed over, and Baekhyun knows he wants something. He knows what he wants. “Not now,” Baekhyun murmurs, but he doesn’t make a move to pull his finger out of Chanyeol’s mouth.

He moans lowly when Chanyeol sucks harshly in retaliation, but stands his ground as he finally removes his finger. There’s a cheeky glint in his eyes and maybe Baekhyun should pay heed to that, but he doesn’t. “As I was _saying_ , I wish I knew sooner. Maybe we didn’t have to keep running around in circles then.”

“Better late than never,” Chanyeol replies, smiling sweetly at him. “Aren’t you gonna start the stream?”

Baekhyun reaches to his side for tissues and wipes his finger dry, and then reaches for the laptop to set up the stream. Normally, he would do it at his table with his proper set-up, but he wants today’s stream to kinda resemble a Skype call with a friend, so he stays in bed with Chanyeol.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Baekhyun asks one more time, just to be sure. He’s asking about coming out as boyfriends, and Chanyeol has never been surer.

“Yeah, I do.”

 

+

 

“Hi everyone! If you saw my tweet earlier today, you’ll know what we’ll be doing today—an AMA stream! Because I haven’t been streaming for a long time, so I thought instead of hopping right back into games, I could talk to you guys for a bit,” Baekhyun says enthusiastically.

Chanyeol stares at him from the side, careful not be in frame yet. He leans against the wall and watches as Baekhyun speaks excitedly. It never fails to amaze him how Baekhyun’s persona is always the same on camera, because he can never do that himself. He lets his emotions get in the way of things all the time.

“I know y’all have been dying to ask me some questions, but don’t fret! One of my mods will be translating your questions and my replies in chat,” Baekhyun tells his stream, and when his translator gives him the OK, he starts the Q&A. He glances at Chanyeol and motions for him to come into the frame, but Chanyeol shakes his head. _Not yet._

There aren’t a lot of people online yet, so the questions and comments move slow enough for him to skim through every one of them. He scrolls through the chat to look for questions in Korean that he can answer without his mod translating for him, and finds a simple one to begin with.

“Why I haven’t been streaming for so long? Ah, I know I cited personal reasons, but it’s mostly because the League was stressing me out and I was doing badly and I needed time away from Overwatch. It burns you, this game. But it’s worth it.” He sees a lot of comments tell him that he did well nonetheless and he beams at them.

“Reveluv95 asks if I like Red Velvet,” Baekhyun reads off the screen, and he shrugs. “They’re okay, I guess. I prefer SNSD. I kinda grew up with them.”

And then he spots a translated question that hasn’t been asked yet.  _Where is the special guest you mentioned?_ Baekhyun side-eyes Chanyeol once more and urgently taps on his arm.

“They want you,” Baekhyun mouths, leaning in towards his boyfriend. Chanyeol raises an eyebrow at that but moves to sit beside Baekhyun anyway.

“Someone asked for the special guest I mentioned, so… It’s Bambi, our newest member of Seoul Dynasty! And also my boyfriend,” Baekhyun adds hastily, suddenly feeling nervous. Maybe he shouldn’t have said that so soon. He feels nauseous and he wants to retract his words, but it’s too late. Everyone’s spamming the chat.

He looks exasperatedly at Chanyeol, about to apologise for not asking, but Chanyeol looks… happy. His frown dissipates and he continues to glance fondly at his boyfriend— _his_. Chanyeol is speaking to his chat but Baekhyun can’t hear a word because he’s so fucking mesmerised.

“...coach Jinki. I accepted, but it’s more of a trial period for me now,” Chanyeol says. He looks at Baekhyun and waves in his face, weirded out by Baekhyun’s blatant staring. “Earth to Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun blinks, snapping out of it as he whips his head to look at the screen. Chat is calling him whipped, and he doesn’t need his translator to know what they mean. “Please continue to ask Bambi more questions! I’ll be back,” he says, getting off the bed.

“Where are you going?”

“The toilet, wanna join me?” Baekhyun asks teasingly, grinning.

Chanyeol rolls his eyes and shoos him away, making himself comfortable on the bed with the laptop on his lap. The laptop feels hot on his skin, but he ignores it as he scrolls through the comments. There are surprisingly more Korean than English messages, and they’re all pretty supportive of their relationship. It warms his heart to know that fellow Koreans think their relationship is perfectly acceptable, and he proceeds to answer the less invasive questions, like how they became friends and how they got together.

Baekhyun comes back a while later with snacks in hand. “What did I miss?”

“Nothing much. Mostly questions about us,”Chanyeol answers, reading the chat. “There are surprisingly many questions for me, though.”

“Hopefully not extremely nosy ones,” Baekhyun says, taking the laptop off of Chanyeol’s lap. He reached over Chanyeol and places the blanket over his lap, patting it down before putting the laptop back. “You’re crazy. Put the blanket over your lap next time, the laptop is bloody hot.”

The chat spams _boyfriend goals_ and Baekhyun rolls his eyes, stifling a smile. “Y’all think everything is a relationship goal. Set higher standards for me, thanks.”

“Onto the next question: what I expect of Seoul Dynasty this season?” Baekhyun mulls over the question as Chanyeol rests his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes. He doesn’t pay attention to Chanyeol’s wandering hand as he answers the question.

“Well, I’m sure everyone can tell that we’re not playing to our fullest potential,” he starts, moving the laptop from Chanyeol’s lap onto his own chest, “if I am to be honest, I don’t expect us to make it to finals. I think our team is still adjusting to the changes and that’s okay. Of course, what I _want_ -”

He stops short and glances at Chanyeol. The man has a smirk on his face and Baekhyun can feel the rough padding of his boyfriend’s fingers inching dangerously close to his pelvis. “What I want is for us to advance to finals,” he continues, maintaining eye contact with the camera, his voice strained as fingers wrap around his dick, “but whether we can m-make it is another- another story.”

“Fuck,” he swears under his breath, hips bucking up into Chanyeol’s grasp. He holds the laptop in place as Chanyeol slides lower down the bed, still pumping his member ever so slowly. He tries to concentrate on the stream, but he really can’t do it—not when there’s a fucking hand around his dick.

“Next q-question,” he stutters as Chanyeol gives him a squeeze. The man is under the sheets and Baekhyun can’t see him—but he can feel Chanyeol’s fingers slide up and down his shaft teasingly. Baekhyun frowns at the dry friction, but then something wet engulfs his dick and he nearly moans.

“ _‘What do you and Chanyeol do in your free time? Any date ideas?’_ We do lots of stuff,” Baekhyun says quickly, wanting to end the stream already. He already knows Chanyeol is a little minx, but he never expected Chanyeol to do _this._ Give him a fucking blowjob while he’s live. It isn’t the wildest thing they’ve done, but… “We do whatever you- you guys do with your partner.”

Some people in the chat are starting to get suspicious, some asking where Chanyeol is and some asking if Baekhyun is okay. “I’m fine,” Baekhyun manages to get out, feigning a smile. “It’s just the heat getting to me.”

 

 **ryugod** **  
** Lol that’s a look of agony my bois

 **Bbbbbbbbbbbb**  
tell jongdae ilove him -SD’s biggest fan

 **JEBAITED** ****  
Somehow I feel like we’ve interrupted  
something important.

 

He pulls the blanket off and looks past the laptop, only to be met with a naked and lust-driven Chanyeol. He doesn’t know when Chanyeol took his clothes off, but it doesn’t matter.

He has Baekhyun’s dick in his mouth and a hand around his own, pretty careful not to make any sound except the occasional whimpers. But Baekhyun knows how vocal Chanyeol can be—he needs to shut the stream off as soon as possible.

“I’m gonna end the str- ow!” He glares at Chanyeol who looks back at him with the same intensity in his eyes, as if daring him to end the stream right then. The man fucking bit on his dick. Not cool, but the look he’s giving him tells Baekhyun that if he ends the stream right now, he won’t get ass for the rest of the week. And Baekhyun doesn’t want that.

“I will end the stream in _15 minutes_. Please fire away,” Baekhyun sighs. Chanyeol gives him a satisfied grin—as widely as he can with a dick in his mouth—and continues to suck the life out of him.

 

 **sleepyOW  
** Who’s the handsomest in OWL? (Hint: me)

 

“Yes Jongin, it’s you,” Baekhyun grits out as Chanyeol swirls his tongue around the tip of his member, hands fondling his balls. Great, now even his friends get to see his orgasm face. He can only hope that Chanyeol will go easy on him.

He tries to answer as slowly as he can so that he won’t have to speak much, and when the 15 minutes are finally up, he shuts off the laptop and throws it to the side so quick it startles Chanyeol, who is really just teasing him at this point.

“That was fun for you, huh,” Baekhyun growls, pulling at Chanyeol’s hair, “that’s why you were so excited for the stream. You wanted this from the start.”

Chanyeol moans, nodding his head. He bobs his head down Baekhyun’s member, slick and wet with his saliva and Baekhyun’s precum. “That was hot, but don’t ever do that again without my permission,” Baekhyun scolds, and Chanyeol whines in response.

“Did you want everyone to know what a cockslut you are?” Baekhyun muses, ruffling Chanyeol’s hair. Chanyeol goes deeper, attempting to take all of Baekhyun in one go and he gags when the latter thrusts into his mouth. “Come on, you know you can do it.”

Baekhyun takes a moment to admire the sight. Chanyeol with flushed cheeks and tear-stained eyes, hungrily sucking at his cock like he would _die_ without it. Stroking his own dick and getting off pleasuring his lover, rutting against the sheets as he does so—god, it’s all so fucking _hot_ and Baekhyun doesn’t know if he wants to cum down his throat or in his ass.

Chanyeol pulls off his dick and wipes the drool off his face. “Cum down my throat,” he breathes, before taking Baekhyun into his mouth again. Baekhyun grunts and starts thrusting slowly into the warmth of Chanyeol’s mouth, watching as Chanyeol struggles to take all of him. The hand at his dick is tugging faster and Baekhyun knows he’s going to cum as well.

“I’m gonna cum babe,” Baekhyun moans as Chanyeol moves to stroke the base of his dick—his movements getting more and more erratic and Baekhyun cums as Chanyeol sucks him dry. Baekhyun slumps down the bed, breathless.

“Fuck, I’m old. Did you cum?” He asks Chanyeol, who nods cutely and moves to show Baekhyun. White spurts of cum dirty the bedsheets and Baekhyun groans. “We gotta clean this mess up. Also, the fuck are you so cute after a _blowjob_?”

“You’re still in your mid twenties. And I don’t know. I’m always cute,” Chanyeol shrugs, smiling at him. He crawls up to Baekhyun and sits on his lap, arms around his neck. “That was amazing.”

“ _You_ are amazing,” Baekhyun replies, kissing him square on the lips. “Fucking charmer.”

“Only for you,” Chanyeol laughs, and Baekhyun thinks if he could only choose one sound to listen to for the rest of his life, this would be it.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the smut isn't supposed to be hot so,,,, IM SORRY BYE


End file.
